Life with the Supernatural
by piercesalvatore
Summary: Two fangirls get stuck in The Vampire Diaries world along with their two friends. Living in the world of vampires, werewolves, witches, and doppelgängers, will they ever be able to fit in and go along with the plot? Or will they have to interfere?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **After a long hiatus from this account, I am back with this story that was recently published on a different account called _forbesalvatores. _I was unable to log into this account which made me switch over to a different one, but now this is my permanent account that I will be continuing this story on.

**Disclaimer: **As much as I'd like to, I do not own The Vampire Diaries. _But _I do own the characters you see in the story and some of my own plot twists.

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><p><em><strong><span>Prologue<span>**_

**TESSA'S POV**

My eyes widened as I applied mascara onto my eyelashes, careful not to hit my eye. That happened every now and then, and it did not feel too good.

"Hey," my fraternal twin said, coming up beside me in our joined bathroom. "You ready yet?"

I turned to face her after I applied the last coat onto my now thick black eyelashes. My lips pulled back into a smile. "Now I am."

We were getting ready all day for our end of summer road trip. The plan was to make our way through Virginia and through the states to Georgia, where our trip was planned to end. It would be us and our two best friends Carter and Aaron - who we'd known since first grade.

I walked back into my bedroom and grabbed my portable DVD player and seasons one and two of 'The Vampire Diaries'. Season three was just around the corner. So on our way down to Georgia - where my grandparents lived, by the way - we'd have something to occupy ourselves with. Unlike Wren and I, Carter and Aaron weren't obsessed with the show as we were. In fact, Aaron has never watched the show. He said it was, apparently, "too girly". We wouldn't want to tarnish his macho image, after all.

With the DVD player and show packed safely in one of my bags, I grabbed my two rolling suitcases and made my way into the hallway where I was met with Wren who chuckled.

"What?" I asked, letting go of one suitcase to fix the strap on my bag that was over my shoulder.

"Do you really need to bring so much?" Wren motioned towards my three bags.

"Yeah."

Wren had one rolling suitcase which she made a grab for for. "Whatever you say, 'Tess."

Both of us walked down our hardwood stairs. Soon, we were met by Aaron, who I hadn't heard come in. He was leaning against the wall in a tight black v-neck and skinny jeans with his usual tousled ash blond hair, as if he just rolled out of bed. If I wasn't already taken by Stefan Salvatore, who I planned on having all to myself, I would've so jumped his bones. Sadly, he had only ever had eyes for Carter, who was so oblivious of his flirtatious comments and never ending kind gestures.

Aaron scoffed once he saw me. I knew he was doing that just because of the amount of clothing I was bringing. I couldn't help it. I just needed to have back up shirts, pants, and shoes. It wasn't my fault I was high maintenance - I got that gene from my Mom.  
>Looking at my sister, I saw how different we were. She always wore dark colors - red's, navy blue's, gray's, black's - and had shoulder length hair that was dark brown with large curls. I, on the other hand, loved pastels and girly outfits. I had long straight hair with the same doe eyes and high cheekbones. Only I had the very faint look of freckles dotting my cheeks. You couldn't really tell I had any unless you were, like, three feet away from me.<br>Aaron's voice pulled me back from my thoughts. "Come on. Carter's waiting for us and you guys know how impatient she is."

We quickly hurried into the car, placing our bags in the trunk and grabbing the DVD player, before Aaron put his keys in the ignition and started down the road that led to Carter's house.

**CARTER'S POV**

I was getting impatient.

Aaron promised to be here ten minutes ago, and yet, he was a no-show.

By now I was tapping my boot clad feet onto the sidewalk and pacing back and forth with my backpack on my shoulders. My suitcase sat a few feet away.

That's when I saw the headlights. I whipped around and grabbed my suitcase before the car pulled up. Aaron stepped outside to help with my bag. _What a gentleman_, I thought with a playful roll of my gray eyes.

"Sorry," he said once he walked back to me after placing my suitcase into the trunk.

"Don't worry about it." I gave him a reassuring smile, walking around the car and getting myself situated into the passenger seat. I looked behind me to see Wren and Tessa engrossed in the DVD player, their headphones dangling from their ears. "Let me guess," I said to Aaron who was now inside and pulling into the street. "The Vampire Diaries?"

"As always." Something about Aaron seemed tense. Then, it dawned on me.

"Not this again," I groaned.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're mad at me for..." I stopped talking, lowering my eyes in wonder. I didn't know what to exactly say.

Aaron let out a sigh without anything to retort.

"Cat got your tongue?" I suddenly noticed my snappy tone and sucked in my lips.

He pulled off onto the highway where there was a bustling of cars. Even here, now, at eleven o'clock at night, it was busy.

"Aaron, you have to tell me if something's bothering you." My tone weakened.

"It's nothing."

Turning more towards him, I placed my hand on the center console. "Aaron, I want you to know that you can tell me anything." He was silent. "Damn it, Aaron. Talk to me."

Something was going on with Aaron. It was the way his body tensed around me or how his tone was colder than before. We've been friends since we were four, so I couldn't put together the puzzle of what was wrong with him. Unlike myself, he wasn't an open book.

Aaron didn't say more which left me to turn back to the window, where I stared out into the starry night.

**TESSA'S POV**

It didn't take long for me to fall asleep. In fact, it was a surprise that I'd drifted off as fast as I did. Usually it took awhile, especially in a car, to go to sleep. It'd been an exhausting day, though, so I definitely earned myself some shuteye.

Before I'd fallen under, I had just gotten halfway through the first season. I remember the quiet squeals I made when I saw Stefan shirtless. Wren would just look at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was, but I didn't care.

And, anyway, Wren had no room to give me those looks. Whenever Damon popped up, she'd almost faint. Well, she looked like it to me.

Someone shook me from my right side and I bolted awake, gasping as I laid my eyes on my sister. Her shoulder length hair had been pulled back from her face, exposing her high cheekbones and tan skin through the darkness of the night. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and noticed we were stopped on the side of the road.

"Where are we?" I asked, sitting up straighter when I saw Aaron and Carter were no where to be found.

Wren shrugged, "I don't know. I just woke up like you did and saw that they weren't in here so..."

My eyes fitted over the outdoors as Wren stopped talking. We were surrounded by trees and nothing else. I groaned.

"I think," Wren stated, "that Aaron is checking under the hood for something."

I didn't know what she meant and looked straight ahead to see the car's hood popped open. Aaron worked as a mechanic at his father's auto body back in our hometown so whatever happened he'd be able to fix. Hopefully.

That's when I saw the dirty blonde hair emerge from the right of the hood. Carter had her hands in the pockets of her jean jacket and was just looking around like she was nervous about something.

"Is she okay?" I asked suddenly.

"Carter? Oh, I don't know. Like I said, just woke up and didn't feel like getting out to get the full story."

I gnawed on my bottom lip before unbuckling my seat belt and getting out of the car. The warm almost cooling night air hit my face and whipped my hair in all directions, causing my hand to fly to the strands to push them behind my ears.

"What happened?" I asked after rounding the car and seeing Aaron fiddling with something on the engine.

"The car broke down and it won't turn on," Aaron said.

Wren walked up beside me, smirking, "Obviously. Or else you wouldn't be messing with the car parts."

Aaron pulled himself away from the greasy parts and stared at us, running a hand through his hair.

"So?" Wren said, squinting her eyes a bit. "What's the issue."

"That's the thing, I don't know. Nothing seems wrong with it."

I was about to say more before Carter walked up behind Aaron with a flash of fear in her eyes before it was quickly masked with something else. Something had startled her, I knew that much, but decided not to say anything about it and walked back to the car.

"Where are we anyway?" I asked after ripping open my car door. I leaned inside to grab my phone that made its way beneath the seat cushions. "This doesn't look like Richmond."

Richmond was the first destination we'd be going through.

"Somewhere in the middle of nowhere," Carter sighed from the front seat where she now was. I didn't even notice her slip inside. So seeing her there in an instant caused me to flinch a bit. Her hands were stuck inside the glove compartment until they returned back to her with a map in her hands. "By now we should be in..." she stopped talking.

"What is it?"

"The map...it's not the same one we started the trip with."

I closed the door just as Aaron slammed the hood down. It was quiet enough for us all to hear what Carter was making out and it didn't look like the information was sitting well with us.

My friend exited the car and spread the map out for us, pointing at it. "This isn't the same map."

Aaron narrowed his eyes at it. "Yeah, you're right."

The map was of a different city, one that was probably nearby, but we couldn't make out the fine print of what the town was. It was almost unreadable. I saw Richmond near the very top of the paper and saw that we should've been closer to it.

"If we started here," Aaron said after pointing towards a spot on the map, "we should be right here by now." His fingers ghosted over the map as I saw we were just maybe an hour or two away from Lynchburg - the town that we actually knew - where we could get some help with the car.

Looking down at my phone, I saw that it was dead. I remembered very clearly that it was at least 70% by the time I fell asleep.

"My phone's dead." I looked over at Wren. "Can I use yours?"

"Sure. Maybe we'll be able to call a tow truck so we don't have to walk all the way to the mystery town."

"Let's hope." I took her iPhone from her slender fingers and looked at it in disbelief after I pressed the lock button. "It's dead."

"Here." Carter gave me her phone too before focusing her eyes back down onto the map.

Her phone only had a black screen like the rest of ours.

"Something wrong?" Wren asked.

"All of our phones aren't working." I turned around and walked to my car door where I proceeded to climb inside and grab our portable DVD player. Out of curiosity, I ejected the Vampire Diaries DVD, only to no avail. It was missing.

"Um, guys!" I threw the electronic onto the floor of the car with wide eyes. "Did one of you happen to put away the TVD DVD?" My eyes searched for the case. I couldn't find it.

"Nobody touched it," Carter screamed back.

"It's missing. Season one and two are completely missing...as if they never existed." The last part came out as a whisper.

I heard Carter stifle a snort and I shot back out of the car, throwing the door back in anger and confusion.

"It's just a DVD. You can buy a new one," Aaron said, raising a brow afterwards at the face I was making.

"But it didn't just up and walk away." By now I was whining about it. It wasn't that I was sad about it being missing, but not able to understand why it disappeared, and how it disappeared for that matter.

"She has a point," Wren said.

I shook my head at the problem and started pacing as the three of them started talking in hushed tones about what to do next. My white flats kept tapping onto the ground with each step I made, and it was making me even more anxious at what was going on.

**WREN'S POV**

Ever since the car jerked to a halt, I knew there was something going on. I didn't even have the motivation to pry my eyes open until I heard two car doors slam shut and a soft kick of my sister's foot against my own as she squirmed around. I tried to kick her back, but I was too tired to function.

Now, I knew something weird was happening. First it was the car, then it was the phones, and now it was a DVD disappearance. It didn't take much for me to freak out, but this certainly did.

Instead of pressing it on further with my obvious distraught sister, I kept my eyes on Aaron who folded the map back up and put it into his back pocket.

"What?" He chuckled at my face.

"Nothing," I said hurriedly. "So, what's the plan?"

Aaron moved towards the trunk of the car. "We're going to have to walk to the town near here. Our phones aren't working so there's no point of sitting around waiting for someone to come by."

"Oh, no. I am not walking all the way there," Tessa groaned and I fought back a smile.

"Come on, 'Tess. It'll only take an hour."

"Aaron," Tessa said more sternly.

"Tessa," he said.

It took a few minutes for Tessa to budge from her place on the street, yet she eventually did with a frown pasted on her face. Then Tessa didn't know which bags to take and started fussing over it before she chose two randomly with her eyes closed.

I noticed that Carter hadn't moved from the front of the car. She was staring into the forest like she had before, only this time she was biting at her thumbnail.

I took my rolling suitcase from the back before strolling towards my friend. "Carter?"

She jumped back. "Jesus, Wren."

"You look like you've seen a ghost," I laughed lightly.

I heard her mumble under her breath about something as she brushed past me towards the trunk of the car, ignoring my look of worry.

**CARTER'S POV**

The forest creeped me out, even more when it was nighttime. I had exited the car after Aaron had stopped the car with every intention to interrogate him into what was wrong with the automobile, but was struck dead in my tracks when I heard a loud rustling from the wooded area beside me. At first, I tried to get Aaron's attention from under the hood but my words had came out as mumbles after I saw the flash of amber colored eyes through the foliage. It was the first time I'd ever seen those kind of eyes, and I wondered if they belonged to an animal. And if so, what animal?

Once Tessa and Wren came into view I wanted to say something to all of them. Although the eyes left me confused so I decided against bringing it to their attention.  
>With all the mumbo jumbo about the DVD out of the way and our bags in our hands, we were now traveling down the deserted street.<p>

I pulled my jacket into myself and ran up to meet with Aaron who was the leader of our little group. He was clutching the straps of his backpack to the point where his knuckles turned white. It looks like I'm not the only one that has something going on.

"Are you...are you okay?"

"Fine," he bit out.

"Well, you don't look fine."

"Then stop looking."

I screeched to a halt at his words that were laced with anger. Turning around, I pointed out to Wren that Aaron was in a mood. She gave me a sad smile, as if she knew something I didn't.

I quirked a brow as best as I could manage. Raising eyebrows wasn't something that came easy.

Wren stopped, looking at me. "Are you okay? You look like you're having a seizure."

My brows weakened. "Yeah...but Aaron's not." I turned back around and started walking once more. Something about the way Wren fidgeted set me off. "How about you?"

Wren shook her head, "I probably shouldn't say anything."

"Tell me," I pressed.

"No."

"Wren."

"Carter."

Another voice joined into the mix. It was Tessa. Her voice was hoarse as she tried speaking. "Guys."

I looked at what she was now pointing at. It was a large sign, not any higher than my 5'5 frame. It was wooden, painted in green and white, with elegant writing on it.  
>'Welcome to Mystic Falls,' it said. 'Enjoy your stay.' Underneath it was a population number - somewhere in the thousand range.<p>

"What is this?" I asked, suddenly.

"We're in Mystic Falls," Tessa said in amusement.

"I see that, but how and why?"

Tessa gave me a shrug. I took a chance to look around. Tessa and Wren where the only ones who seemed happy about this. But Wren didn't look that happy-more like uncertain as well.

Glancing back at the sign, I felt my palms start sweating. "This...we can't go farther."

"Why not?" Tessa asked.

"Because it's Mystic Falls - home to supernatural beings and a never ending decreasing population. Do you honestly think we'll be able to fit in here? We won't."

"What else do you think we should do? It's obvious this is a different dimension - meaning our old lives don't exist."

I frowned, "You don't know that."

Wren crossed her arms, speaking up. "You're right. But maybe we should check this out to see if it's legit."

Tessa smiled, "I'm all for that."

I let out a groan and noticed I wouldn't win this one.

**AARON'S POV**

Something happened before the car broke down. It was weird, but I couldn't tell the girls. We already had enough on our plate with this surprising turn of events.

By the time we made it into Mystic Falls the sun was already up and the town was bustling with people. For such a small town it surely was active even for it being six in the morning.

"What do we do first?" I asked, squinting my eyes from the sun.

I watched as Wren bit her lip. "I don't know."

"Check out the boarding house?" Tessa suggested with a smirk.

"Tessa," I said.

"What? It's a good idea." She started walking past the Grill, almost bumping into two woman; a police officer with very short blonde hair and the other one with shoulder length hair and pearls around her neck.

"Tessa, we are not going to the boarding house." Wren caught up with her sister and grabbed her by the wrist. "It's too dangerous."

"Just follow my lead." Tessa snatched her arm back and turned around in a huff.

I shook my head. "This is not going to be good."

Not even noticing her, Carter scoffed. "So now you decide to talk to me?"

I was about to say something but was left standing there with a blank expression on my face as she caught up with Wren and Tessa.

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><p>The boarding house was large, bigger than I anticipated. We walked up it's circular driveway towards the large wooden door.<p>

Tessa raised her hand and knocked on it.

"What do you think we should say?" Wren asked.

"Like I said, follow my lead," Tessa said.

The door swung open and there was a man standing there. He looked to be in his late twenties, early thirties. He looked at Wren and Tessa first, a odd look forming on his face. After he shook himself out of the trance, he coughed awkwardly.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Maybe. We were wondering if Stefan was here?" Tessa was messing with her bag, making it obvious of her nervousness.

"He's not here. He's at school."

"Oh. Well, would it be possible if we could wait here for him?"

The man crossed his arms. "For eight hours?"

Tessa bit her lip. "Look, we have nowhere to stay, and Stefan could probably help us out with that problem."

His eyes looked at each of us before stepping aside, letting us manuver our way inside. "I'd allow you to stay here. There's lots of rooms, but I'd have to speak to...Stefan about it before doing so."

Wren turned around, staring at him. "Why?"

He hesitated and shook his head. "It's nothing."

We all shared a look.

"I'm Zach, by the way. Can I get you guys anything?"

I walked into the parlor and looked around at all the furniture. It looked like some antique auction. I almost didn't want to sit down because it all looked expensive and old.

"We're fine," said Tessa from behind me.

Once Zach was gone, we all huddled together and talked in hushed tones.

"Now what do we do?" I asked, crossing my arms.

Tessa only gave me a shrug, but smiled at the same time. "Now we wait."

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>And that's the prologue for you all. Next chapter we'll dive into the first episode of season one. I should also tell you that this is going to be following the storyline of the show, but of course, I'm modifying it so Wren, Tessa, Carter, and Aaron fit into the story. Reviews, follows, and favorites keep me motivated so don't forget to do so.


	2. Pilot

**Disclaimer**: As much as I'd like to, I do not own The Vampire Diaries. But I do own the characters you see in the story and some of my own plot twists.

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><p><span><em><strong>Chapter One; Part One: "Pilot"<strong>_

**TEESA****'S POV**

It was midday by the time Stefan walked through the large dark oak door. He didn't acknowledge us until he threw his messenger back onto a chair near the opening to the parlor. His eyes widened for a second before he crossed his arms, balancing himself on the balls of his feet.

"Who are you?" he asked.

I glanced at Wren before the words left my mouth. "I'm Tessa. This is Wren, Carter, and Aaron." I pointed at each of them, my finger shaking nervously as doing so. Wow, I really needed to get a grip.

Stefan nodded slowly. "O-kay."

"Yeah. We...uh...sort of told Zach we were friends of yours." I jumped up off the couch and walked towards him. "I totally hope that's okay. I mean, we really wanted to meet you and we just...uh...um..."

"It's fine." Stefan was chuckling now. I hoped that was a good sign.

"Yeah. Well, we don't really have anywhere to stay and we were hoping you could-"

"Don't worry about it." Stefan didn't move his uncrossed arms.

"Are you sure? We don't want to intrude."

"It's fine, Tessa."

The way he said my name made me go weak in the knees. "I...really? Thank you so much!" Before I knew what I was doing, I threw my arms around Stefan's neck and gave him a giant hug. To my surprise, he hugged me back.

Then a set of soft hands grasped my sides and yanked me off of Stefan.

Looking back I saw Aaron letting go of me.

"You weren't going to ever let go if Aaron didn't step in," Wren said beside me with a smile.

Oops.

I nodded my head and noticed Stefan was still standing there.

He said, "I actually have to drop something off at someone's house and then I'm headed to the Grill...if any of you want to come, you can."

_Probably Elena's diary_, I thought. The fact that he had her diary made me feel a bit jealous. It was the show, however, so I should go along with the plot and not interfere or get petty over things like the Stelena relationship.

"We'd love to go," Wren piped up.

"Great. Just...let me go do a few things and we'll be on our way." Stefan quickly hurried out of the room and I turned back to my friends.

"Should we find ourselves a room?" I suggested, and they all nodded in unison.

**WREN'S POV**

Before we made it to the Grill, Stefan dropped off Elena's diary at her house. I watched from his car as he talked to Elena and hesitated when she left for a moment before returning. They were all smiles and I remember looking over at Tessa to see her gritting her teeth. I only shook my head at her.

Now we were at the Grill sitting at a table that seated the five of us. From across the room I saw Caroline and Tyler staring at us, Bonnie and Matt doing the same from their table. Elena was there too, arriving sometime after us. Her eyes never left Stefan as she talked to Bonnie.

_Someone's jealous_, I thought as an amused smile appeared on my face.

"So, Stefan," my sister began. But shortly after there was the squeaking of chairs being moved and she looked up to see that Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena were now joining us.

"I hope you guys don't mind," Caroline said as she squeezed in between the five of us. "We just really would like to get to know you guys. I'm Caroline and this is Bonnie and Elena."

"Hi," Bonnie and Elena said in unison.

We all gave them some sort of smile, annoyed or not, and Caroline began speaking. "You were born in Mystic Falls?" the question was directed to Stefan, who only looked friendly over the intrusion.

"Born and raised, but I moved away when I was young," he said.

"Parents?" Bonnie asked.

"My parents passed away." He looked over at Tessa.

"I'm so sorry," she said sincerely. "What about siblings?" I wanted to kick her from under the table.

"None that I talk to," he smiled. "As you know, I live with my uncle. That's the only family I really have."

I looked over at Caroline who didn't seem to be taking a liking of the eye-sex going on between my sister and Stefan. "So, Stefan, if you're new - and the rest of you - then you don't know about the party tomorrow."

"It's a back to school thing at the Falls," Bonnie mentioned.

_The bonfire, _I thought.

Stefan turned back to Tessa, who was staring at him lustfully, and questioned, "Are you going?"

I shook my head no at my sister while she nodded quickly. "Of course we are."

**THIRD PERSON POV**

It was late at night by the time the five of them returned back to the boarding house, and everyone was pretty much drained by that time.

Stefan was now freshly showered and putting on a shirt when Zach burst in through the door holding up a newspaper in his hands. Stefan gave him a questioning brow as his uncle began shooting questions at him.

"You promised," he said as Stefan took the paper from his hands to read the headline.

"This was an animal attack."

"Don't give me that." Zach shook his head. "I know the game. You tear them up enough they always suspect it's an animal attack. You said you had it under control."

"And I do." Stefan shoved the paper back into his hands, frowning.

"Please, Uncle Stefan, Mystic Falls is a different place now. It's been quiet for years, but there are people who still remember. And you being here, it's just going to stir things up."

Stefan shook his head. "It's not my intention."

"Then what is? Why did you come back after all this time, why now?"

"I don't have to explain myself."

Suddenly, Zach's voice softened. "I know that you can't change what you are. But you don't belong here anymore."

Stefan swallowed the lump in his throat, staring at the ground. "Where do I belong?"

"I can't tell you what to do. But coming back here was a mistake." Zach turned around and placed the paper on a nightstand and left the room.

The vampire stood there for a few moments before looking over at a large cabinet in the corner of his room. He slowly made his way over to it and gulped before opening it. Inside were books upon books. No, not books, but diaries. Over the centuries, Stefan made sure to document every piece of his life. All of them ranged from his first years as a vampire up until last year - 2008. His finger tips ghosted over the leather spines before he grabbed the one that always stood out to him the most.

Stefan knew exactly what place the picture would be in. He flipped to it with ease and stared at the three beautiful faces that looked up at him.

They were sisters who had Bulgarian good looks, high cheek bones, and dark doe eyes with matching hair. In the corner of the photo it said, _Savannah, Katherine, and Emma Pierce; 1864. __  
><em>

**CARTER'S POV**

"I am not going to the bonfire," I said as I placed my books into my locker after my lunch period. Tessa stared at me in disbelief, giving me those puppy eyes. "I don't see why I need to go. I mean, you are only going just to get in Stefan's pants."

Tessa hit me in the shoulder, hard. "You have to go. A bonfire, party, whatever you want to call it wouldn't be the same without _the _Carter Harraway there."

I rolled my eyes and picked up my American History book. "You know I don't do the whole partying thing."

"Because you like to stay cooped up inside all day doing nothing but paint or draw, or something dealing with art." Tessa frowned. "What a bore."

Scoffing, I smiled at her insult. "Tessa Louise Bardell, did I just hear snarkiness coming from thy mouth?"

"That thy did." Once I had my books in hand, Tessa looped her arm through mine and lead me down the corridor towards Mr. Tanner's class.

"I hate Tanner," I groaned with displeasure when his room came into view.

"Everyone does." She unlinked her arm with mine and turned to face me, grinning like a schoolgirl. "But in order for me to see Stefan I have to bear him."

I threw my head back laughing as she pulled me inside for our next period of the day.

**TESSA'S POV**

"The Battle of Willow Creek," Mr. Tanner began, "took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle?" He rounded his desk until he was leaning against the wood, his eyes scanning us. "Ms. Bennett?"

I turned my gaze towards Bonnie, who flinched at her name being called. "Um...a lot? I'm not sure, but like a whole lot."

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett." The teach looked at Matt, who sat behind me. "Mr. Donovan, would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

"It's okay, Mr. Tanner. I'm cool with it." I laughed at Matt's response, knowing it was coming eventually.

Tanner shook his head, and said, "Tessa? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"

How was I supposed to know? I didn't grow up here, and have only been here for a two days, so how was I supposed to know about the Battle of Willow Creek? Was that even a real thing? "I-I don't know."

Tanner's eyes didn't waver as he stared at me. "Didn't your old school go over this? I mean, you didn't live too far away, correct?"

Again, I shook my head. I lived up in the more northern parts of Virginia, nowhere near Mystic Falls.

"There were 346 casualties," I heard Stefan say, "unless you're counting the local civilians."

"That's correct," Tanner smiled. "Mister..."

"Salvatore."

"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"

Oh, a bunch. I turned my head to see Stefan nod his head, Tanner obviously pleased.

"Well, very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."

"Actually, there were 27, sir," Stefan said. "Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss." I looked back to see the teacher standing there awkwardly. "The Founder's archives are, uh, stored in Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner."

Once he said that, the whole class began chuckling. I couldn't blame them. He just showed Mr. Tanner he was wrong - _Mr. Tanner._

**WREN'S POV**

"You should've been there. Experiencing Stefan show Tanner up was unbelievable," Tessa said as we walked towards the spot of the bonfire. "It's just better to see those things in real life other than over the TV."

I rolled my eyes at her happiness and grabbed myself a red plastic cup from a table as we passed it. "So, where is Mr. Brood tonight?"

"No idea." Tessa was on her tiptoes looking around to see if she can spot him. "He must not be here yet. And don't call him 'Mr. Brood'. You make it sound like he's pathetic."

"That's because he is," I said. Tessa glared at me. "Sorry, but I'm just not on Team Stefan, you know that."

"Right, because you have to have eyes for that sleazy scumbag named Damon Salvatore."

I gritted my teeth. "Don't say it outloud. We don't know who could be listening."

"Oh! Look there's Bonnie and Elena. Let's go join them."

I didn't refuse as Tessa tugged me along until we were standing beside the duo who were already in a deep conversation.

"Oh, okay, so he's a little pretty," I heard Elena say.

"He has that romance novel stare - Oh, hey guys." Bonnie saw us and smiled. "We were actually just talking about Stefan."

"Yeah, have you seen him at all tonight?" Elena asked, looking at Tessa.

"I don't know." I could see Tessa seethe with anger when Elena asked that.

Elena turned back to her friend. "Well, what about you, Bonnie Bennett? I mean you are the psychic one."

My blood ran cold. "Psychic one?"

Bonnie laughed, "It's nothing. But yeah, I guess I am. Okay so give me a sec-"

"Wait!" Tessa said, grabbing a empty bottle of beer. "You need a crystal ball."

I didn't want to be there when this whole 'thing' that happened went down. Being there in person to witness 'the darkness' Bonnie says is sort of freaky.

Bonnie reached out and grabbed the base of the bottle while Tessa kept her hand at the near top. Her eyes were closed, but suddenly opened again, removing her hand from the glass.

Elena's smile weakened. "What?"

"That was weird," Bonnie emphasized. She was still looking at Tessa. "When I touched you, I saw a crow."

"Uh..."

"A crow. There was a fog, a man." Bonnie didn't keep on with it too long and grabbed the bottle from Tessa's hand. "I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it. Yeah, okay? I'm gonna get a refill."

All three of us watched Bonnie hurry away to the drinks. When we turned around, Stefan was standing there. "Hey."

"Hi," Tessa said.

Stefan furrowed his brow in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

"It's just Bonnie...she's...weird. But you're here and that's all that matters."

Stefan nodded, "I'm here."

That was the cue that Elena and I should get out of there. I tugged at her leather clad elbow and dragged her away from the two lovebirds that were practically having eye-sex.

**AARON'S POV**

Music blared from the radio as I sped down the road. I had just gotten my car back from an auto body on the outskirts of Mystic Falls. They told me nothing was wrong with the car once it came into the shop, which made me laugh, because I knew something was wrong with it.

I watched a slim hand out of the corner of my eye turn down the volume a bit. I had only agreed to letting Carter go along because she just got under my skin _that _easily. Was I whipped?

"So, what's our plan at getting back home?" Carter asked, staring out the window away from me.

I shrugged. "Should we really do anything? I think...maybe this is a sign that this is where we belonged all along."

I heard Carter scoff. "You can't be serious."

"I am, Carter." I looked at her to see her frowning. "Explain to me how you'd get us back home then?"

For a moment, I thought I left her speechless by the way she sucked in her lips and stayed silent. Though that was far from it.

"We'll use magic."

I didn't really know what to say to that. Honestly, I didn't like the idea. Actually, I hated it. Magic? I get that we were in a world where witches existed along with vampires and werewolves, but should we really tell a witch where were from? If all turned to hell, they'd know we didn't belong here. It was a recipe for disaster.

"Oh, come on, Aaron." Carter leaned over and grabbed at my sleeve. "It won't be _that _bad. What's the worse that could happen?"

I didn't want to find out, that's for sure.

We stayed silent for the rest of the ride until I pulled into the driveway of the Salvatore boarding house. I exited the car and walked to the front door with Carter.

"Is it wrong to have hope?" Carter suddenly asked.

I turned to her. "I guess not."

"You 'guess'?"

"I just don't understand why you want to get home so quickly. Your life isn't exactly the definition of perfect, Carter. Your dad doesn't give a damn about you, your sister ran off, and your mom..."

Tears rimmed her eyes, and I felt like a huge ass. "Don't start, Aaron."

"That's not what I-"

There was a loud sound of glass breaking and the sound of heavy things being thrown around. Carter whipped her head around, curls flying everywhere.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Probably Damon and Stefan's big fight scene in the first episode," she suggested. Before I could say anything, she took off towards the fight.

"Carter!"

Her body disappeared around a corner and towards the back of the house, where I assumed was Damon, and Stefan, standing a foot away from each other. Stefan had just finished saying something, by the looks of it, when he realized we interrupted. He turned towards us and looked down at the ground shamefully.

"Hello," I heard Carter say. Her eyes had been wiped away from any remaining tears and she now stood with her arms crossed and a curious, but knowing, look in her eyes.

Damon's eyes roamed her body hungrily, and in an instant I felt like stepping in front of her to defend her honor. "Hello," the man purred.

"Carter, Aaron, get out of here," Stefan said.

"I'm Carter," Carter answered without looking at Stefan. "And you are...?"

"Damon, Stefan's brother."

"Hmm..." she looked at Stefan and laughed. "I didn't know you had a brother."

I found my voice and tugged at Carter's hand, "Let's go, Carter." I could sense that something bad was going to happen, and I didn't want her getting hurt. Being in the presence of vampires practically spelled danger.

Carter looked down at our linked hands, biting her lip, before slowly pulling away from me and taking a few steps towards the brothers. "I'm Carter, by the way, and this is Aaron."

Damon only smiled.

"Carter," Stefan warned. "You need to go."

"Oh, no, no, Stefan," Damon said, waving his hands in the air as a way to stop talking. "I would actually love to get to know your friends better."

Out of nowhere, Damon's eyes turned red and veins creeped their way around them, his fangs showing in a sinister smile. My eyes widened as I saw him inch closer to Carter, who was staring in fear, and Stefan try to jump in front of his brother. But he was too slow.

Damon grasped Carter by her shoulders and stared at her. I was now running for him, but he used his vampire strength to simply shove me with one hand into the brick wall of the garage that sat behind the boarding house. Stefan tried doing the same, but Damon did the same.

My back had a numbing sensation beginning to form while I clenched my eyes shut at the sound of Carter's screams filling the area. Along with that I could hear Stefan screaming and the sound of something heavy falling onto the concrete. I figured that was Carter's body.

That's when I heard her speak.

"You asshole!" she screamed. It was laced with pain, which I could hear through her gritted teeth.

"You are tastier than I imagined," Damon said.

I opened my eyes, crawled to my feet, and felt myself sway back and forth as I tried to regain my balance. Carter was sitting there with her hand to her neck, Damon standing over her like an animal finding its prey. He had this taunting look on his face that I'd gladly beat him up for. I was just about to, actually, but I saw him get down to her level and shush her of her wincing.

"Sh, sh, sh, it's going to be okay." He kept his eyes opened and looked deeply into hers. "You got attacked by an animal." Carter repeated his words. "And Aaron was there to play knight in shining armor."

"What are you..." I stopped speaking when he flashed in front of me.

That was when everything turned black.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: I really hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. Near the end I was sort of in a rush so I hope it suffices. Also, just a little something that I think you guys should know, is that for the titles of the chapters I'll be including 'part one/two/three...etc' which means which season these take place along with the titles of the episode - just so nobody gets confused with things. _And_, Vicki did get attacked in this chapter as she did in the episode. I just decided not to add it and replace it with this because, again, I was in a rush.

I'd also like to give a big thanks to those that reviewed, followed/favorited, or are just reading the story without really leaving feedback. You guys are great!


	3. The Night of the Comet

**Disclaimer**: As much as I'd like to, I do not own The Vampire Diaries. But I do own the characters you see in the story and some of my own plot twists.

* * *

><p><span><strong><em>Chapter Two; Part One: "The Night of the Comet"<em>**

**THIRD PERSON POV**

"_They're dead ringer's for Savannah, Katherine, and Emma._"

"_Stay away from them, Damon._"

"_I'll take that as an invitation._"

The words that the brother's exchanged before their fight the night before kept replaying in Stefan's head as he sat up in bed, trying to push them from his memory. It was tough to do, but he eventually thought about Tessa and her safety. With Damon around in the boarding house, things could easily get ugly. Things already did with Carter and Aaron.

Stefan glanced around his room before getting up and going over to his desk where his journal lay. He flipped it open and began writing on a new page. He tried to write something down, anything, but his hand was still and unmoving over the white paper.

His thoughts got the best of him.

There was no denying that the girls looked like the three sisters from his and Damon's past. Tessa inhabited the looks of Emma, Wren Savannah, and Elena Katherine. It confused him as to how they could look alike, and it worried him that he'd eventually have to tell them all that they looked like the girls of his past.

He didn't want to think about it.

**TESSA'S POV**

Following the events of last night, I was surprised to find myself feeling completely whole once I woke up in the embrace of a warm blanket with an abundance of pillows. Vicki was attacked - Elena found her in the forest along with Jeremy just like in the episode. I was there afterwards with Wren watching as the ambulance pulled away from the scene. From where I stood, I watched Elena console Jeremy from afar. I felt bad for him, really bad.

Wren and I stayed the night at Elena's house, which Jenna didn't have any problem with. In fact, Jenna really didn't say anything about us other than give me and Wren a look that I couldn't really understand. It was like she was shocked to see us, as if she knew us somehow. But I brushed that off because it was impossible for her to know us. We weren't from this dimension. In a world of supernatural beings, we were _far _from normal and didn't belong here.

I felt somebody jump onto the large bed and looked up to see Wren staring down at me. She was already dressed and ready to go, giving me a smile while tugging at the blankets. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty. We've got a full day ahead of us."

I didn't complain as I got out from under the many layers of fabric. Wren looked at me, and I realized I still had a goofy grin on my face. She shook her head and left me to get ready. Before I knew it, I was dressed head to toe in a lace top, jeans, and flats. My hair was down like always.

Wren was standing above the stairs with Elena just as Jenna was coming down from her bedroom. She turned to face us, asking, "Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?"

"Depends on where you're going," Elena said.

"Yeah, what she said," I added when Jenna looked into a mirror.

Jenna sighed, "Jeremy's parent-teacher conference." She turned back to us and held her hair up with one hand. "Hair up or down?"

Elena smirked, "Sexy stewardess." Jenna let her hair go. "Boozy housewife."

I laughed at that.

"Up it is," Jenna said. "You're fiesty today."

"I feel...good. Which is rare. So I've decided to go with it, fly free, walk on sunchine, and all that stuff." Elena took a peek into Jeremy's room, frowning. "Where is Jeremy?"

"He left early. Something about getting to wood shop early to finish a birdhouse."

All three of us girls shared a look.

It dawned on Jenna after she looked at our furrowing brows. "There is no wood shop, is there?"

We all shook our head 'no' at Jenna's bluntness and left her alone to get ready for what seemed like a brutal conference in the making.

* * *

><p>Mr. Tanner was blabbing away about the comet that would be passing over Mystic Falls the next day, and I was listening intently until I felt Stefan's gaze on me.<p>

I turned my head and smiled at him. He could just light up a room with his smile, couldn't he?

"Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore?" I pulled myself away from Stefan's gaze long enough to see Tanner looking at him and I in disapproval. "Ms. Bardell?" I shook my head innocently.

Thankfully, the school's bell rang to signal us off to our next period. I jumped out of my seat, grabbed my books, and met Stefan outside the doorway. He and I took off down the hallway without looking back, and I watched as he pulled something out of his bag.

"I brought it," he said as he handed me the hardcover book.

My eyes lit up. "'Wuthering Heights' by Ellis Bell." It was my favorite book. I've actually read it more times than I can count. "You know, I learned a while back that they never used their real names back then. Weird."

"All the Bronte sisters used pseudonyms. It was the time. Female writers weren't very accepted then."

I already knew how he got it, but I asked anyway. "Where did you get it?"

"Uh, it was passed down through the family."

M-hmm. When was he ever going to just tell me the truth?

Stefan looked at the book before handing it to me. "I have lots of books, keep it."

"I know...but I just..." I took the book from his hands and gave up at trying to fight him with it. "I promise I will give it back."

Stefan laughed before it died down. He was staring at something behind me that must've been walking past us. It was Carter. She was hurrying away from us.

"Hey, I'll talk to you later, okay?" I didn't stick around and followed my blonde friend. "Carter!"

She screeched to a halt, turning to face me. "What?"

"I haven't heard from you since yesterday." My eyes fell on the white gauze covering her neck. "Oh my God, Carter. What the...what happened?"

"It's nothing."

"Carter, that is not nothing." I grabbed her by the wrist and took her into the nearest girls' bathroom. "Did you get bit?"

Her demeanor changed. "By an animal, yeah."

"Carter, that is not an animal bite..." Something in her eyes didn't seem right. "Were you compelled?"

Carter shrugged, placing her books down onto the counters with a big slam. "I don't know. Honestly, everything's one big blur."

"Well...what do you remember?"

She took a moment to think. "All I remember is coming back to the boarding house after picking up Aaron's car. Then he took me to the hospital and now I have this." She pointed to the bandage with a scowl.

I gave her a quick hug after that. I hated when my friends got hurt. It was almost like it hurt me too.

"I'm fine, honestly. But I definitely won't me if Mrs. Wright sees I'm late."

At that, I giggled.

**AARON'S POV**

_I looked around to see myself in the middle of a forest. It was dense, the fog almost choking me. Because of it I could only see what was two feet ahead of me as I walked, going nowhere in particular. I just appeared here, out of nowhere, and it both confused me and scared me. And it took a lot to scare me._

_The only thing I remembered before arriving here was taking Carter to the hospital...for an animal bite. But for some reason, my mind was telling me otherwise. It was like it was pushing me to remember something, or to think something different than that. I shook my head, ran a hand through my hair, and pushed on through branches that had sprouted out of the sides of chipping oak trees._

_From below I could hear a crow cawing. I looked up to see a few circling over me in the dark night sky. At least, I think it was nighttime._

_I felt around my pockets for my phone, letting out a groan when I found that it wasn't in any of the four. I didn't know where I was or what the time was. For all I knew I could've been in some other reality. Or maybe home._

_At the thought of getting my old life back, I started running deeper into the forest. Though I stopped when a clearing came into view. Looking around, I walked towards it and saw three figures standing there. People, to be exact; Tessa, Wren, and Carter._

_They were just standing there as still as statues, wide eyed, and looking across from each other. Their skin was sickly pale, too._

_"What the hell..." I walked around them and observed them before reaching out and touching one of them._

_That's when I saw it._

My head snapped up off of my desk in groggy realization that I was sitting in my English class. Mrs. Wright was looking at me with narrowed eyes as the other students in class glared at me for interrupting their lecture.

"Mr. Feldman," Mrs. Wright said through a cold stare. "Is there any reason you're sleeping in my class?"

_Because it's boring? _"I'm...tired." I shrugged. Honestly, I didn't care if I got in trouble.

"Well, sleep is for home, not school. This is your first and final warning." She turned her wrinkled frame back to the lecture and began speaking again.

From across the room, I saw Carter watching me with a sad look on her face. I wanted to mouth something to her, but she shook her head and started writing down her notes.

* * *

><p>As the day went on, I found myself becoming much more paranoid than usual. It must've been something dealing with my dream, or something else entirely. I didn't know.<p>

I rounded the corner and almost ran right into Caroline, who was chatting with Bonnie about witches. Her green eyes lit up when she saw me; I didn't know why. Caroline and I have hardly spoke.

"Aaron, hey!" she said cheerfully at the sight of me, and turned back to talking to Bonnie.

I was going to go the other way, where my calculus class was supposed to be, but I figured to Hell with it and joined the two teenage girls.

"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch," Bonnie continued. "My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor so I kinda tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so."

Witches? I seemed interested and was going to ask more, though Caroline beat me to it.

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night." Caroline said it in a oh-so-teen fashion, letting a little moan come from her lips just as she said it.

"I didn't see him," Bonnie laughed, "you did. Why don't you just talk to him?"

I stopped suddenly. "What guy?"

As if finally acknowledging my presence, their gazes fixed on me. "This really hot guy with blue eyes and raven black hair," Caroline explained.

Damon.

Caroline turned back to Bonnie. "And, anyway, I was drunk."

Bonnie let out a huge laugh at Caroline and we continued our walk down the corridor.

**WREN'S POV**

"They're keeping her overnight to make sure there's no infection, but she should be able to come home tomorrow," Matt told Elena and I as we walked across the quad.

"That's good news," Elena told him sincerely.

"_Great _news," I added with emphasis.

Elena grinned. "Did you get in touch with your Mom?"

"Called and left a message. She's in Virginia beach with her boyfriend, so...we'll see how long it takes her to come rushing home." I felt bad for Matt. He had such a rough life with paying for the bills only at seventeen, taking care of his druggie sister, and having a lowlife mother that never came around. I gave him a sad smile, obviously knowing that it wasn't my place to really give my two cents.

Elena sighed, "Vicki's lucky that she's okay."

"I know, and now there's talk of some missing campers," Matt said.

I looked over to see Stefan sitting on a table with his back towards us. I knew that he was listening in.

Elena had confusion on her face, looking around at the different students in thought. "Did she say what kind of animal it was that attacked her?"

_Vampire, _I thought. _One with blue eyes and a cocky attitude._

Matt thought for a minute, and jokingly, "She said it was a vampire."

"A vampire?" I chimed, laughing dryly. "That's ridiculous. There's no such thing."

"Yeah, she wakes up last night and mutters 'vampire' and then passes out."

"Okay, that's weird," Elena said.

"I think she was drunk." Matt changed the subject and now had his eyes on Stefan's back. "So what's up with Tessa and the new guy?"

Elena and I looked over at Stefan, and I shrugged. "They're...in love? I don't know, she just really likes him."

Matt nodded, looking over at Elena to see the jealousy forming in her eyes. He frowned, and I wanted to say something about it.

"You know...I-uh...actually have to go see Vicki at the hospital so I'll let you guys know if anything happens."

Matt backed away as Elena and I watched him, nodding our heads at his departure. When we looked back at Stefan in unison, he was gone.

* * *

><p>After school, I met up with the girls who were joined with Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena. We were helping out with the comet festivities that would take place later on tomorrow.<p>

Bonnie was talking about her witch heritage some more, something that I was starting to get a bit annoyed of, as I helped Elena fold some flyers. "Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death, so much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity."

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens," Caroline said in disbelief. She looked over at Tessa, who was talking to the blonde about her night with Stefan. "So then what?"

"So then nothing," Tessa shrugged, her tone giving off a different tone.

"You and Stefan _talked _all night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?" Wow, Caroline was really digging deep.

Tessa shook her head in disappointment, that she tried to mask. "Nope. Not yet."

"Yet," Carter said with an amused eye.

Tessa reached over and slapped her arm kiddingly with one of the flyers.

"Not even a handshake? I mean, come on, Tessa, we are your friends. Okay? You are supposed to share the smut!"

In that moment, I really did feel like a real friend towards these girls even though we've been here for only a few days. It was uncanny, but it made me feel...whole. Like there was really no reason to get back to our dimension so quickly, that maybe we were just destined to live here all along.

"We just talked for hours," Tessa continued.

"Okay, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already!" Caroline caused Bonnie to give her a surprised look, but she didn't acknowledge it. "Okay, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, _sex_."

Tessa shook her head at her. "It's not that easy..." Then I saw her fold up the last flyer and look at the table in thought. Then, she grabbed her bag that was propped up against her chair and jumped out of her seat.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked, grinning.

"She's right. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying I was going to do."

Elena smirked, "Well, have fun."

Tessa winked. "Oh, I will."

"Wait!" I got out of my seat with my bag on my shoulder, following my sister that was now a few steps away. "I have to go pick up some things from the boarding house tonight so do you mind if I go by with you? I promise I'll be out of your guys' hair in not time."

My sister said, "Sure. But don't screw this up."

* * *

><p>We walked up to the boarding house. It was quiet, and I knew something was on Tessa's mind when she hesitated when her fist went to the large wooden door.<p>

She stepped back, looked at me, and sighed. "Do you think we'll meet him?"

"Who?" I lied. Actually, I knew exactly who she was talking about.

"You know," Tessa told me with that whole 'eye' thing going on.

"I don't know. I mean, let's be serious here, maybe something changed in this whole plot line and you-know-who isn't in Mystic Falls yet."

I could tell Tessa was second guessing this, though she made a move towards the door anyway. Her small fist tapped the door a few times, and we waited.

Then the door cracked open out of nowhere. Just like in the episode.

I looked at Tessa before we both walked inside with caution.

"Stefan?" she screamed.

"Shh...be quiet," I scolded.

She didn't listen to me and went further inside. There was something about the air that told me this wasn't going to turn out very well. I just didn't know how or why.

Stefan's bag was sitting on a chair near the entryway, which gave me the impression that we were definitely not alone.

"Tessa, let's go back outside." I tried to urge her from her spot. Only to no avail. I threw my hands up in frustration and turned around, the door creaking open on its own. "Tessa..."

That's when the giant black crow flew through the doorway and towards the direction of where Tessa was standing. Because of it startling me, I didn't realize that once I turned around I'd be inches away from the blue eyed devil himself.

**TESSA'S POV**

I was already searching the parlor when I heard Wren say my name off near the entry of the house. I was too busy searching for Stefan - I mean, I was planning on going for the gold here soon so I didn't want to be wound up in whatever Wren was planning on talking to me about.

Then I heard her speak again. "I...Um...sorry for barging in the door was...open."

I squinted my eyes together in confusion and rounded the corner to the door. "Wren? Who the..." I got my answer when I saw her face-to-face with Damon Salvatore. "Oh."

Damon turned back towards me, smiling in a oh-so-devilish way. "You must be Tessa." Then he looked at my sister. "And _you _must be Wren. I'm Damon - Stefan's brother."

I felt myself become strangly angry about this. "Well, he never told me about you."

Damon was talking to me, but kept his eyes on Wren. "Stefan's not one to brag." He then turned, placing a hand on Wren's waist, leading her into the parlor where I was standing. "I'm sure Stefan'll be along in a second."

Wren's cheeks were flaring, and I held back my laugh with the anger that was probably radiating off myself. I knew about Damon, I just didn't know why I was so angry _now _about him never telling me before. I knew it was coming, I just didn't prepare myself apparently.

His blue eyes locked on mine. Yeah, the were definitely a pretty blue. "I see why my brother's so smitten."

I rolled my eyes. Oh, save me the reminsicing.**  
><strong>

He noticed the eye roll and chuckled. "It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one." He sighed dramatically. "Nearly destroyed him."

I softened a bit, my mouth becoming slack. "The last one?"

"Yeah, Savannah, his girlfriend?" The way he was saying it was ticking me off, but I became stiff when he said 'Savannah'. Who the Hell is Savannah? Wasn't it Katherine that stole his heart and broke it in two when she "died" or fled or whatever?

I shook my head, looking at Wren who was giving me the same confused look as I had.

"Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet?"

I was fiddling with my hands at the tension in the air. "Nope."

"Oops. Well, I'm sure it'll come up now." 'Oops' my ass. He did it on purpose. "Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound."

Now, the tears were threatening their way onto the surface.

"We...all know how those...relationships end."

Wren then spoke up. "You say it like every relationship is doomed to end."

Damon looked back at her, obviously pleased to be talking to her again. "I'm a fatalist." He smirked, knowing that Stefan had just walked in. "Hello, Stefan."

I looked up with tears in my eyes.

"Tessa, Wren, I didn't know you were coming over." Stefan's face was etched without an expression. It made my blood run cold and boil all at the same time.

Because of our twin psychic powers - kidding, of course - Wren jumped at the chase to explain ourselves and also save me from feeling humiliated. "We know. I was going to call-"

"Oh, don't be silly. You're welcome any time. Aren't they Stefan?" Damon moved closer to Wren and eyed his brother. "You know, I should break out the family photo albums, or some home movies, but I have to warn you, he wasn't always such a looker."

Wren managed a fake smile.

"Thank you for stopping by. It's nice to see you both," Stefan said with his gaze on Damon's frame.

And Wren saw it. "Yeah, we were actually just leaving..." She turned to Damon. "It was nice to meet you, Damon."

"Great meeting you too, Wren." He placed a kiss onto the back of Wren's hand, and I knew that the smile that tugged at the corner of her lips was genuine despite the pain I was enduring beneath the surface.

I watched Wren turn to leave and I joined her.

Stefan was in our way, which I had no trouble in saying anything about it. "Can you move?"

It took him a moment, yet eventually he shuffled our of our way so we could leave.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

The door slammed shut which meant the brothers were finally alone.

Damon whistled. "Great gals. Whoo...they've got spunk. You, on the other hand, look pooped."

Stefan nodded and walked around his brother, ignoring him.

"Did you over-exert yourself today?" Damon faked a gasp. "Let me guess - hospital."

"Someone had to clean up your mess."

"Well, were you successful? Did the powers of persuasion work?" Stefan turned to Damon, who walked towards him tauntingly. "Remember, if you don't feed properly, none of those little tricks work right."

"How long was Tessa here?" Stefan, again, ignored his brother's pointless words.

"Were you worried, Stefan? Scared we may be doomed to repeat the past?" He chuckled. "Isn't that why you play your little game of, 'I'm a high school human'?"

"I'm not playing any game."

"Of course you are. We both know the closest you'll ever get to humanity is when you open it open and _feed _on it." Damon walked to his brother and was amused at his toying words.

"What kind of game are you playing...Damon?" Stefan's voice was cold, emotionless. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife.

Damon shrugged. "Guess you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?" His lips morphed into his signature smirk as he pulled back from his brother and moved into a different place of the house.

**TESSA'S POV**

"He's on the rebound and has some raging family issues," I said as I made myself a bowl of food. I was standing in the Gilbert's kitchen with Jenna, Elena, Wren, and Carter. Aaron was nowhere to be found so we skipped out on inviting him over for the night.

"Well," Jenna started, "at least it's an ex-girlfriend. Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues...or amphetamine issues."

I shrugged my shoulders and took a bite of food.

"I wouldn't worry about it, 'Tess," Carter soothed.

"Yeah, he's just one guy. I mean, there are millions of fish in the sea," Elena added with a sad smile.

We heard the door click shut and we watched from our spots as Jenna rushed towards Jeremy, who was already halfway up the stairs for all we knew. "Jeremy? Where were you?"

"More stoner stories? Look, Jenna, I get it, you were cool. And that...that's cool."

"Oh, no, no, no, no!" Jenna threw the apple that was in her hand at Jeremy.

"Ow! Why? Why - why did you do that?"

"Listen up! Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion."

"Parental authority, I like it. Sleep tight."

I giggled along with the rest of the girls at Jenna's attempt at being a responsible guardian.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

"What is Damon doing here? Why did he come home?" Zach questioned as he watched Stefan button up his shirt.

"'Cause I came home," Stefan said simply. "He wants to make my life miserable. That's how he enjoys his."

"Well, he's putting us all at risk. This girl in the hospital could talk."

Stefan walked towards the door after giving himself a satisfied look in the mirror. "She won't. I took care of her."

"You're sure?"

Stefan sighed, "I'm not sure, Zach. I don't know how well it worked. I'm not as strong as Damon." He pulled on his leather jacket.

"So what happens if it doesn't?"

"I don't know. I'll deal with it." Turning, Stefan headed for his door, but Zach's voice pulled him back.

"Is she worth it?" Zach asked. "Uncle Stefan, this girl you came back for?"

It was, but Stefan was never going to admit it. Instead of answering, he turned and walked out the door.

**TESSA'S POV**

I cut myself a path through the many crowds of people during the Night of the Comet celebration; I even pushed people away and evened out their glares with my own with no remorse. Tonight was just one of those nights where I was moody to no end.

Caroline walked up to Bonnie and I with another candle in her hand, giving it to her life long friend. "Hey, I got you a candle."

The two linked arms and followed me as I moved towards Aaron, who stood with a group of guys including Elena. He was dressed in light wash jeans, a black v-neck, and a jean jacket, sporting his usual charming good looks. He laughed at something one of them said before he spotted me.

"Hey, you," I said, holding out my candle to his own. I watched as a spark formed on the wick. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," he smiled.

In that moment, I felt the need to tell him about everything that's happened when I encountered Damon yesterday. But I saw not even five minutes ago how happy he was with his friends. To take that away by putting a burden on his shoulders would make me feel horrible. It could wait - the whole 'Savannah' thing - and I had no problem with keeping my mouth shut.

I turned away from him and began walking again. This time, into someone who held out their candle. Because mine was lit, I didn't care to help someone out.

"Thank you," a familiar voice said. I looked up to see Stefan looking down at me. "Hi."

Great. Perfect. The person I wanted to see the least was standing mere inches away from me. Would it be considered cowardly if I wanted to turn around and flee the scene?

I turned back and saw that Aaron was watching us. He had that look on his face that told me he knows what happened. Someone must've filled him in without me knowing.

Scoffing, I walked around Stefan until I was standing alone.

That's when I felt him up behind me and whisper in my ear, his hot minty breath causing me to shiver. "You know, that comet...it's been traveling across space for thousands of years. All alone."

"Yeah, Bonnie says it's a...harbinger of evil."

"I think it's just a ball of...snow and ice, trapped on a path that it can't escape. And once every 145 years, it gets to come home." He took a step and stood right beside me. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't myself."

"You seem to spend a lot of time apologizing."

"Well, I have a lot to apologize for..." He stared at me, and I could feel my heart stop beating a few times in my chest under his gaze. "Yesterday, it wasn't about you, okay?"

Without thinking, I said, "You didn't tell me you had a brother." _Even though I already knew, of course._

"We're not close. It's, uh...it's complicated."

"Always." I looked down at my candle and knew I shouldn't say anything. But I did anyway. "He told me about your ex...Savannah."

There was a breif pause between us. "What did he say?"

"That she broke your heart."

"That was a long time ago," he said slowly.

"When you lose someone, it stays with you, always reminding you of how easy it is to get hurt."

Stefan stepped in front of me this time, almost forcing me to try and look at him. "Tessa..."

"It's okay, Stefan," I said as the tears burned in the back of my eyes. "I get it. You have no idea how much I get it. Complicated life? Check...Complicated belonging? Check. Too complicated to even contemplate dating, double check." I sucked in a breath. "We met, and we talked, and it was epic, but...then the sun came up and reality set in."

A look of hurt crossed on Stefan's face, and I mentally kicked myself for making him feel bad. But I'm guessing that in this moment, I realized what an idiot I've been trying to force myself into the lives of those who live in Mystic Falls. This isn't reality, none of this is real. For all I knew, I could be in a dream, or nightmare, that I never woke up from. Like a coma or something. I was here this whole time just playing pretend and not looking at the big picture - the fact that this isn't normal, that I need to go back to my life where the supernatural doesn't exist. At the thought, I felt a tear fall on my cheek, and I wiped it away quickly before Stefan could spot it.

The way he didn't say anything made the air thicken around me. I couldn't look at him or do anything because I felt _so _bad. So, I did what was necessary and backed off; blowing my candle out and leaving before I would burst into tears.

**CARTER'S POV**

The alcohol burned my throat on it's way down, but I didn't care. I sat there in the Mystic Grill with my hands on a bottle of tequila, not caring about the event going on with the comet. My mind was on other things.

I heard the squeak of a chair and turned my head towards Aaron, who gave me a worried smile. He pried the drink from my hands and took a swig, puckering his lips at the taste.

"Lightweight," I teased.

"You always were a bitchy drunk," he pointed out, gulping down another sip.

I tensed. "I'm not drunk."

"Mhm." He didn't believe me.

"And, anyway, what's got you to drink?" I asked while taking the bottle back.

"I can ask you the same thing, but I'm pretty sure I already know."

"And that is?"

Aaron sighed, placing his hands on the table. "I think you have a sneaking suspicion of who your attacker was."

Was this kid a mind reader? "How do you know that?"

"You're easy to read."

"Yeah, right."

"It's true." Aaron took my bottle and drank again. He set it on the table afterwards, only a bit to hard. The bottle broke and alcohol eased into every part of the table. "Shit!" He made a grab for the napkin holder, but flew back into his seat as the alcohol morphed into flames.

"Aaron!" I screeched.

His hand was open, then it turned into a fist and the flames went out. _Oh my God._

"Aaron," I said with caution. "What the Hell was that?"

He shook his head and hurried out of his seat.

"Aaron!" I looked around and saw that nobody was watching us, so I let out a breath of relief. "Aaron, talk to me."

He just stood there, looking at the alcohol that was now disappearing into the cracks on the table.

"How..." Then it dawned on me. "Aaron, you...you're..."

He didn't stick around; he gave me one glance and then ran from the establishment with a look of fear in his expression.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Stefan was walking around the town square when he was stopped by concerned-stricken Matt Donovan.

"Hey," the quarterback said. "Have you seen my sister?"

"No, sorry."

"I can't find her. She's missing."

Stefan nodded. "I'll keep an eye out for her." He turned around.

"Hey!" Matt said, causing Stefan to turn back. "I saw you at the hospital yesterday."

"Did you?"

"What were you doing there?"

"Visiting," Stefan lied.

"Visiting?" Matt asked. "You know, Tessa and I have only known each other for a short time, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm going to look after her."

Stefan nodded just as his hearing picked up the sounds of a wailing Vicki Donovan, who he could hear was just in this vicinity.

"_You really have to stop screaming_," Damon said from somewhere on higher grounds.

"_No, please, stop. Don't..._"

"_Shh, I got you._"

"Excuse me," Stefan said.

Across the street, Damon had Vicki by the arm and was toying her around as if she was a doll, making her believe he was going to throw her from the rooftop onto the hard pavement. Stefan flashed up there with his vampire speed.

"Not bad," Damon said once he saw his brother. "Have you been eating bunnies?"

Ignoring his statement, Stefan started towards them. "Let her go."

"Shh, really?" Damon glanced off the edge. "Okay."

"No, no!" Vicki screamed once Damon pushed her nearer.

"No, no, no," Stefan told him.

"Relax," Damon said, pushing Vicki down and stepping off the ledge.

"What's happening?" Vicki asked in tears.

"I don't need her to be dead, but...you might." Damon looked from his brother to the girl, his tone becoming serious. "What attacked you the other night?"

Vicki looked at him through wet tears. "I don't know...an animal."

"Are you sure about that? Think." Damon got down to her level. "Think about it. Think really hard._ What attacked you_?"

Vicki jumped back as if being burned. "Vampire."

Damon suddenly yelled. "Who did this to you?"

"You did!"

"Wrong."

Stefan pleaded, "Don't."

"It was Stefan." Damone grabbed Vicki and held her by her forearms. "Stefan Salvatore did this to you," he compelled.

"Stefan Salvatore did this to me."

"He's a vampire; a vicious, murderous monster."

"Please, Damon, please don't do this," Stefan begged.

The older brother stepped away from his victim. "If you couldn't fix it before, I don't know what you can do now." He ripped off the gauze from Vicki's skinny neck and threw her to Stefan like a rag doll. "Your choice of lifestyle has made you weak. A couple of vampire parlor tricks is nothing compared to the power that you could have, that you now need. But you can change that. Human blood gives you that."

Stefan felt the veins protrude from underneath his skin and around his eyes.

"No!" Vicki screamed again. Stefan threw the girl on the ground after finding his control useless.

"You have two choices; you can feed and make her forget or you can let her run, screaming 'vampire' through the town square."

Stefan grunted, breathing heavily. "That's what this is about? You want to expose me?"

"No! I want you to remember who you are."

"Why? So, what? So I'll feed? So I'll kill? So I'll remember what it's like to be brothers again? You know what, let her go. Let her tell everyone that vampires have returned to Mystic Falls. Let them chain me up, and let them drive a stake through my heart, because at least I'll be free of you."

Damon chuckled. "Huh. Wow." He leaned down and grabbed Vicki again. "Come here, sweetheart. It's okay." Leaning over into her ear, he whispered something in her ear that calmed her down easily.

"What happened?" Vicki asked once Damon got back up. "Where am I?" The tears in her eyes disappeared and her voice was no longer quivering in fear. "Oh, I ripped my stiches open."

Stefan gulped, "You okay?'

"I took some pills, man," Vicki laughed. "I'm good."

Once she left, Damon stood back and watched his brother. "It's good to be home. Think I might stay a while. This town could use a bit of a wake-up call, don't you think?"

"What are you up to, Damon?"

"That's for me to know and for you to dot, dot, dot." He looked over his brother, stepping towards the ledge. "Give Tessa my best."

* * *

><p>Stefan reentered the Grill just as Matt was placing the bandage on Vicki's neck. He looked up and said, "She said you found her wandering around."<p>

"Yeah."

"So, um, thanks."

Stefan said nothing and walked to Caroline and Bonnie's table.

Caroline groaned, "It's just so much drama. Ever notice how the druggies are the biggest attention whores?"

"Yeah," Bonnie agreed.

"Excuse me," Stefan interrupted. "Hi."

"Hi," Bonnie grinned.

"Um, have you guys seen Tessa?"

"I think she went home." That was all Stefan needed to hear for him to step away and leave the girls be. "_But _I'm gonna give you Tessa's cell number and her email. She is big on texting, and you can tell her..." she handed him the slip of paper. "...I said so."

"Thank you." Stefan grabbed the paper, but there was a pause and Bonnie didn't let go of it. Something radiated off of her once their fingers brushed each other, and she let go quickly as if he was fire, whispers filling her head. "You okay?" Stefan furrowed his brow at her reaction.

"What happened to you?" Bonnie asked quietly. Then she blinked a few times."That's...that's so rude. I'm sorry. Excuse me."

"Yeah, she kind of wigs out," Caroline said as she watched Bonnie's back as it retreated to the bathrooms. "It's like her thing."

Stefan couldn't muster up any words. Leaving him practically speechless.

**TESSA'S POV**

My boots clicked on the wooden staircase as I walked up to my bedroom. From where I stood at the top of the stairs I could see someone in Jeremy's bedroom.

"Jer?" I heard through the grapevine that he was caught dealing to Vicki Donovan. It was the same thing that happened in the show, surprise, surprise.

"No, it's me," Jenna said. "The hypocrite patrol."

"Where's Wren and Elena? And what are you doing?" I walked into Jeremy's room and watched as Jenna riffled through Jeremy's things.

"They're in bed and I've become my worst nightmare - the authority figure who has to violate a fifteen year old's privacy." Jenna spotted something in the corner and picked up something out of Jeremy's boot. It was a hookah. "Jackpot." She looked at the boot and sighed. "I see the hiding places haven't gotten any more creative."

"What brought this one?" I asked as I got deeper into the room.

"Your ass-hat of a history teacher shamed me good yesterday."

I picked up the hookah, examining it. "You got tannered, been there."

Jenna's voice got deep. "'Discover the impossible, Ms. Summers.' Got it." She placed another item of Jeremy's pot collection on the floor. "Thanks. Like I didn't know I was screwing up."

"You're not screwing up, Jenna."

"Yes, I am. You know why? Because I'm not _her_. She made everything look so easy. You know, high school, marriage, having Elena and Jeremy. I can't do it. I'm gonna say or do the wrong thing, and he's gonna get worse, and it's gonna be my fault." Jenna sat down on the edge of Jeremy's bed. "It's impossible."

"This is just the fear talking. You're a little scared, that's all." I frowned. "We all are."

I then thougth about Stefan and my fear of being with him or my fear of being part of this dimension.

"I have to go do something," I said after much thought. "But are you going to be okay?"

Jenna nodded, and that was my cue.

* * *

><p>I rang the doorbell to the Salvatore house and waiting for Stefan to open up. I just needed to see and talk to him again after our little quarrel.<p>

My wishes were granted when he opened up. "Hi."

"Hey."

"Would you like to come in?" He stepped aside and motioned, but that wasn't what I wanted.

"The comet's actually this way." I pointed behind me.

Stefan didn't wait and followed me outside.

"Sorry for barging in...even though I'm still technically allowed here anytime and especially after earlier," I laughed.

"No, no. I'm glad you're here. The way we left things...I didn't like it."

I bit my lip. "See, the thing is, I got home tonight planning on doing what I always do, tell Wren about my day...or how much you made me smile...maybe plan tomorrow's outfit..." I stopped, thinking this was just pointless.

"What would you tell her?"

"I'd tell her that I gave up and started believing that things were okay, but then turn around and say they weren't...because they're not. Nothing is okay. But my reasons for it aren't reasons. They're excuses. All I'm doing is hiding from the truth, and I would spill my heart out to my sister about that truth and that's...that I'm scared, Stefan. I'm scared that if I let myself let you in that the world'll do some switchero and crash down around me like it already did once. And...I don't think I can survive that."

I was probably rambling, but I didn't care or notice. It was true - I was scared that I'd lose Stefan and all the friends I've made so far in this dimension. That if I become happy, the world might just take it from my hands. It'd make me feel sad because I would lose these people that I've become close to in a matter of days.

"You know what I'd say?" Stefan asked.

I nodded.

"I met a girl. We talked. It was epic. But then the sun came up and reality set in. Well, this is reality. Right here."

My heart was beating like a hummingbird in my chest. Stefan was leaning in, and I felt myself gravitating towards him like it was something magnetic. Our lips molded together; it was a simple kiss. But I needed more.

We broke apart and stared into each other's eyes just before I went back in. His lips just felt so good against my own. They were soft, and his hands were too as he placed his onto my neck to pull me closer to him.

Maybe this was reality. Maybe what I thought before was just in the spur of the moment. Right here, right now, just as Stefan said, is reality, and I'm too damn happy to think otherwise.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: This is the longest chapter yet with it being over 7,000 words! And I am so happy about that because I honestly thought I'd get 5,000 words out of the episode, but here's this. Anyway, I am seriously loving the feedback I've been getting towards the story. It may not be much, but it really does mean a lot to see people following and favoriting the story. Also, since I really suck at describing looks of a person, I picture Tessa looking like Caitlin Stasey, Wren looking like Willa Holland, Aaron looking like Alex Pettyfer, and as for Carter, I really can't picture who it is she should look like. But once I figure that out I'll be sure to bring it up. Also, I hope everything makes sense. It's kind of hard to take words that Elena says and make them into my own and make them understandable and meaningful coming from Tessa. From this point on, I think things will start picking up and we'll learn exactly how Tessa, Wren, Carter, and Aaron belong in their new dimension. They all have a backstory, they just don't know about it yet.

Since I'm curious, who are you guys liking/disliking out of our four main characters? Any friendships/relationships you're taking a liking to? Make sure you leave a review.


	4. Friday Night Bites

**Disclaimer**: As much as I'd like to, I do not own The Vampire Diaries. But I do own the characters you see in the story and some of my own plot twists.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Chapter Three; Part One: "Friday Night Bites"<strong>_

**TESSA'S POV**

"I'm not saying don't date the guy," Bonnie said to me after slamming her car door shut. "I'm just saying take it slow."

I pointed at her, smiling. "Come on, Bonnie. You told me to go for it."

"Yeah, but now I'm saying take it slow."

Wren came up behind us after I heard two more car doors shut. Her and I looked at each other knowingly. This was the episode after Bonnie touched Stefan's hand and got that weird vibe. Honestly, she had nothing to worry about. But I did love that she cared.

"Let her have her fun, Bonnie. It's not like he's a serial killer," Wren said after joining me at my side. I giggled in agreement.

Bonnie gave her a look that told us otherwise, shaking her head. "It's...stupid."

"What is?" I asked.

She tried walking away, but Elena, who just recently joined us, pulled her back. "Come on, Bonnie. Tell us."

"I accidentally touched Stefan and I got a really bad feeling."

"Oh," I said.

"It was bad-bad."

Elena chuckled. "Is this the whole witch mojo thing again?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You know what, I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern about my new best friend's new boyfriend."

"And we love you for it, we do." Elena grabbed her friend by her shoulders, looking at her. "But look at her." She motioned her head towards me. "She's happy."

Bonnie looked between us and forced a smile at Elena's persuasion before we all continued walking across the quad.

That's when Stefan strolled up to us with a huge smile on his face. "Good morning."

"Hey," Bonnie said suddenly, "um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone so...I'll catch you guys later."

"Bonnie, wait," Elena said. It was no use and she eventually went off to talk to her.

Stefan looked at me. "She doesn't like me very much."

"She just doesn't know you. She's my friend, she's just looking out for me. But when she does, she will _love _you."

**THIRD PERSON POV**

From across the quad, Matt was throwing a football back and forth between a friend of his as Tyler watched.

A girl ran up to them, Carter, and narrowed her eyes at the football player. "Tyler, have you seen Aaron anywhere?"

He scoffed. "Aaron? Does it look like I'm friends with that douche?"

Carter felt her blood boil. "Aaron is not a douche. If anybody around here is, it'd be you. You are the definition of douchebag-ery."

Tyler scowled, and Carter thought to herself how proud she was to piss him off. Why, she didn't know, and frankly, didn't care. He shook his head, sighing, until he turned his head and a smirk appeared on his face. The blonde followed his eye of vision and saw that Stefan was walking with Wren and Tessa. Suddenly, she remembered what _almost _happened to Stefan in this episode.

The football that was coming towards Matt was pulled from the air and into the air.

"Tyler," Carter warned.

"This is for calling me a douchebag." Then he threw the ball right towards the back of Stefan's head.

**TESSA'S POV**

I stopped Stefan when I realized what this episode was about. A dinner; at Elena's. I smiled and saw Wren shake her head out of the corner of my eye.

"Hey, are you free tonight?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Awesome!" I squealed with a clap of my hands. "I'll have to run it by Elena, but at 8 tonight it'll be me, you, Bonnie, Wren, Carter, and Aaron too if he ever decides to show up, are going to have dinner. That way everyone gets to know you a bit better. It's perfect."

Stefan smiled at me, and I felt my knees turn to jello.

"Uh," I heard Wren say from beside me.

I looked up to see a football coming straight at Stefan's head, but luckily, he used his vampire-like speed to turn around and grab the ball in midair. He didn't even look mad about it either. He just brought his arm back and threw it back at Tyler, hitting him right in the shoulder.

* * *

><p>"That throw was insane!" I gushed when me and Stefan got inside. "I didn't know you played football."<p>

"I used to...it was a long time ago."

Yeah, everything is to him nowadays.

"Oh! I have a _great _idea. You should try out for the team!"

"Yeah, I don't think so."

"So you don't like football?"

"No, I love football. I think it's a great sport. But in this case, I don't think football likes me."

I came to my locker and opened it up, giving him a weird look. Why didn't football like him? I blanked and looked at him with an obvious confused look.

"You saw Tyler over there, and we both know Matt doesn't like me too much."

I shook my head. "They don't know you. To them, you're mysterious loner guy. Wouldn't hurt to be part of; make some friends."

"Says the girl who practically fell out of the sky and landed here looking for a place to stay with no parents and only a sister and two friends."

He did have a point. "Hey, there's more to me than just weird girl who doesn't know her...place here. There's a whole other Tessa that you have yet to meet. Maybe you'll meet her tonight."

"Well, I look forward to meeting her." The bell rang, setting off to let us know it was the beginning of first period. "And when will that be?"

"Soon." I slammed my locker shut. "Maybe tonight."

**Carter's POV**

I ran in the direction of my locker, stomping my feet as I did with Tyler's voice following me.

"Carter, slow down."

I may or may not of knocked his teeth in after watching what I just witnessed. I whipped around as I neared my locker. "Screw you."

He cradled his jaw in his hand. "Damn, you can throw a punch."

"Why do you have to be such a bully?"

"You want to talk to me about bullying? You just nailed me in the face!"

"Because you were being an ass," I said, my voice softening a bit at the end.

Tyler just shook his head and stalked down the hall. I bit my lip, feeling guilty for doing what I did.

Turning, I walked to my locker and opened it up. As soon as I did, a piece of paper flew out onto the tiled ground. I looked at my locker door and realized that it had fallen off from amongst my other drawings. I frowned and kneeled to grab it.

But it wasn't my drawing.

At least, I didn't think it was mine. It was of a wolves face, snarling at me as if it were about to jump out and eat me. The paper was fringed and old, so it sent a chill down my spine just looking at it.

A voice from above startled me, causing me to jump back. "Hey."

"Jesus!" I screamed.

Aaron chuckled dryly, offering a hand to help me up. I grabbed it and glanced at him briefly. Then I placed the picture under a magnet with a satisfied smile.

"New drawing?" Aaron asked, pulling my locker door out farther to look at the mural of all my artwork.

I shrugged. "Don't know."

He brushed his fingertips along a photo of Tessa, Wren, himself, and I. It was taken at one of those cheap photo booths at our mall, way before we landed here in Mystic Falls. We were all smiling; it was a happy time.

A look of dismay crossed over Aaron's features, casting a look over at me as I shoved a textbook into my bag and shut my door. "We should talk."

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Look, about last night," Aaron started. He was interrupted by one of my new friends rushing up to me.

"It'll have to wait, Aaron. Sorry." I gave him a sad smile and rushed off to my first period with my friend. When I turned back from my place down the hall, he was still standing there, watching me.

**TESSA'S POV**

I was sitting in History class, listening to Tanner's usual boring lecture. Stefan sat diagonal from me, and I turned back to talk to him.

"FYI, I heard from Elena that our team sucks. They could use you," I whispered.

"Can't. I'm a loner," he whispered back.

I shook my head, smiling, when Tanner called for me. "Miss. Bardell?"

"What?" I asked, turning around to face him.

"Pearl Harbor?"

I blanked.

Thankfully, Stefan came to my rescue. "December 7th, 1941."

"Thank you, Miss. _Bardell._" The class laughed.

"You're welcome."

"Very well...The Fall of the Berlin Wall," he asked the class.

"1989," Stefan spoke. "I'm good with dates, sir."

"Are you?" the teacher tested. "How good? Keep it to the year."

Stefan took the challenge with a shake of his head. I knew he would show Mr. Tanner that he did know everything. Looks like being a vampire did have its perks.

"Civil Rights Act?"

"1964."

"John F. Kennedy assassination?"

"1963."

"Martin Luther King?"

"'68."

"Lincoln?"

"1865."

"Roe vs. Wade?"

"1973."

I could hear everyone chit-chat around me, obviously entertained.

"Brown vs. Board?"

"1954."

"The Battle of Gettysburg?"

"1863."

"Korean War?"

"1950 to 1953."

Out of nowhere, "Ha! It ended in '52." Mr. Tanner chuckled along with the rest of the class. But I wouldn't be laughing yet if I were them.

As Tanner walked away, Stefan glanced at me for a moment. "Uh, actually, sir, it was '53."

He turned back to Stefan. "Look it up, somebody. Quickly."

Some of the kids whipped out their cell phones and started typing in the Korean War. A kid beside Stefan said, "It was 19...53."

At that, everyone's shared 'oohhs' at the fact a student knew more than a teacher. Well, that student was born 145 years ago. So, of course he knew a lot.

I started clapping, everyone following as I did so.

* * *

><p>After school there was cheerleading practice. Caroline invited me on the team along with Wren, who at first cringed at the idea until I told her that I needed her there.<p>

I walked across the field in cotton shorts and a tank top, Wren wearing the same but had on a v-neck instead. From where I stood, I saw Stefan sitting up in the bleachers right beside Carter, who had a sketchpad on her lap and a pencil in her hand. She was talking to him with a smile, and I realized what she was doing. She was urging Stefan on to join the football team, who were on the other end of the field doing warm ups as Mr. Tanner screamed at them.

"We're here," I announced to Bonnie who was just getting finished with a stretch.

"You joined?" she asked.

"Well, Caroline sort of pushed me to do it and I forced Wren to do it with me." I sat down on the turf and started doing stretches. I was on the cheerleading team at my old school for a little while, but not long enough to become captain. Wren, on the other hand, hated cheerleading. She hated that girls would prance around the field cheering on guys that oogled them when they were on the bench.

Elena walked up to the group wearing a big smile. Bonnie jumped up and hugged her. "Oh my God, you're here!"

The girl sighed. "I can't be sad girl forever. The only way to get things back to the way they were are to do things that were." Elena got down to stretch, and I realized what I needed to ask her.

"Oh! I almost forgot, I was wondering if we could have dinner at your house tonight? Bonnie included."

"I am?" Bonnie asked, chuckling.

"Yep. You, me, Wren, Elena, Carter, Aaron, and Stefan."

Bonnie gave me that look.

"You have to give him a chance," I told her.

"But tonight's no good."

Elena and I tilted our heads at her, not believing a single word she was saying.

Bonnie then decided to change the subject, glancing at Elena. "Have you seen Caroline? I texted her like a hundred times."

I knew where she was, but for the sake of the plot, I kept my mouth shut. "Don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennett," Elena said suddenly. "You're going to be there."

"Fine. I'll go."

"Yay!" I clapped my hands, something I did when I was over joyed.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Stefan walked down the bleachers and away from Carter. She had given him the push he needed to go ask Tanner about joining the football team. He loved the sport, lived and breathed it practically. So, he didn't know why he was so unsure about asking the coach about it. Probably because he had just gotten done screaming in Tyler Lockwood's face.

"Varsity trials were last spring, Mr. Salvatore," Mr. Tanner told Stefan after he walked up to him.

"I wasn't here then, sir."

"And you're not here now, as far as I'm concerned."

Stefan looked away, looking irritated. "Mr. Tanner, I realize that you and I didn't get off to the best start, and I want to apologize for that." Mr. Tanner finally turned to him. "I've played football before. Wide receiver, mostly, and I'm pretty good."

Mr. Tanner rolled his eyes. "Well, I won't be asking you who won the Super Bowl in '71."

"'71 was the..." Stefan began, but was cut off by the look his History teacher shot him. "Sorry, I - I understand that, sir."

He leaned in closer to Stefan. "Just to see you get knocked on your ass. Borrow some gear."

Stefan stood there for a minute.

"Go! Before I change my mind." He waved his finger in the air at the already suited players. "Let's run it again!"

**WREN'S POV**

"Seriously, where is Caroline?" Bonnie asked in concern.

I looked at Tessa, and we both knew the answer to that.

"I don't know," Elena shrugged. "It's not like her. Try her again."

That's when we all heard the roar of an engine come alive and the sound of blasting music pull up to the field. I turned my head, knowing it was Damon's Camaro.

"Uh..." Elena pointed at the car as Bonnie took the phone from her ear.

"Oh, my God." Bonnie's eyes practically bulged out of her head. "That must be the mystery guy from the Grill."

I stood up and wiped my hands off on my shorts, crossing my arms as I saw Caroline place a kiss onto Damon's lips. "That's not a mystery guy. That's Damon Salvatore."

"Salvatore?" Elena and Bonnie questioned in unison. "As in Stefan?"

Caroline slammed the door shut and walked towards us, Damon staring at her ass the whole time. She literally strutted up to Tessa and I, smirking. "I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind."

Tessa didn't, but I did.

"Sorry I'm late girls." Caroline put herself in front of us all, putting her hands on her hips to show how big and important she was in the squad. "I, uh, was busy."

I forced my eyes away from the blonde to look at Damon. He was staring at me over his sunglasses. God, how could one guy be so attractive?

"All right, let's start with a double pike herkey hurdler, what'd you say?"

I wasn't paying attention to what Caroline was saying. I could care less because all I could do was narrow my eyes Damon wiggled his eyebrows at me. Alright, enough of how attractive he was. I needed to snap out of it and look at the bad side. This is _season one _Damon; bad boy, narssistic, and playboy Damon. He was _feeding _on Caroline and...doing other things to her. I needed to get out of this fangirl faze, because I was surely going to get hurt in the end.

Literally.

* * *

><p>"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven eight," Caroline repeated as girls jumped in the air with their legs out. Tessa was getting it down fast, but I definitely wasn't.<p>

The first part of the routine was easy; with simple spins and twirls. But now we were going into complicated territory. I had never cheered before, and only ever saw what Tessa was doing at football games on the sidelines. This whole thing wasn't for me.

I fell out of nowhere, causing Caroline to point out to the rest of the members how lousy I was. "Wren, sweetie, why don't you just observe today?"

That wasn't a problem. I was actually pretty happy to get out of there.

I moved to the back of the group and tried to do another kick in the air, but deflated and shook my head. At least I was trying, right?

Across the field, I saw Stefan sprinting towards the rest of the group. He was decked out in football gear. At least someone was doing something they loved today.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Stefan pulled a fresh shirt over his head just as he reentered his bedroom. It had been a rough day. One that included a bent finger that he needed to put back into place. Good thing nobody else was around to witness it.

Damon was sitting at Stefan's desk; his feet propped up and one of Stefan's journals in his hands. "How were tryouts? Did you make the team?" Stefan gritted his teeth, "Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul with so many..."

Stefan flashed over to Damon and yanked the book from his hands.

"...adjectives." Damon chuckled.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked.

Damon removed his feet from the desk and moved into a serious-like position, placing his hands together and sighing. "I've come to apologize. I've been doing some thinking. Some...soul searching, and...I want us to start over."

Stefan didn't know whether to believe him or not.

"We need to put the past behind us." Damon got up from the chair to stand in front of Stefan. "You're my little brother, and if you want to live a normal, happy human life, then I want that for you. Maybe I can do it, too. I can learn to be a non-living...living person. Maybe there's hope for both of us."

Stefan stood there, still and contemplating what to believe.

Damon then started laughing, all seriousness aside.

"You know," Stefan said, "it doesn't have to be this way, Damon."

"Of course it doesn't." Damon grabbed a feather from Stefan's desk, fiddling with it. "I saw Tessa and Wren today, BTW - that means 'by the way' - they were at cheerleading practice. They looked _so _perky in their little short shorts. Just..." He looked up at Stefan's warning expression. "Simmer down, I didn't even go near them. I've got my own cheerleader now - Oh! That reminds me. I gotta run. I gotta date." He threw the feather down onto the desk and rubbed his hands together. "Sweaty palms. Wish me luck."

**TESSA'S POV**

"You explain it," Bonnie told Elena as they moved around the kitchen to get dinner started. I sat down at the table with Wren as Carter sat up on the counter. All three of us were laughing at Bonnie, all knowing what she was going to say next. "Last night I was watching 'Nine-0', a commercial break comes on, and I'm like, 'I bet it's that phone commercial'. Sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture."

Elena laughed, "Oh, come on. That commercial's on a constant loop." She handed Bonnie tins of food from the bag, which Bonnie put in bowls.

"Fine. Well, how about this?" she tested. "Today, I'm obsessed with numbers; three numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?"

"Weird," Wren spoke up.

"Yeah, totally weird," I said.

Bonnie glared at us.

Elena cracked a grin. "Maybe we should play the lottery." She laughed again. "Have you talked to your Grams?"

"She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch." Bonnie frowned. "I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?"

"I don't want to be a witch."

Bonnie looked at Elena placing pasta into a ceramic bowl. "And putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody."

"Okay, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?" Elena looked around the kitchen.

"Middle drawer on your left." Bonnie was supposed to say it, but instead, it was Aaron, who stood in the doorway of the kitchen with crossed arms.

Elena looked at him and found them in the exact spot that he stated. She didn't think much about it, shrugging when she realized that we could've told him. But we didn't. None of us did because none of us cared.

I looked to Wren and Carter, who looked spooked at the sight of Aaron standing there and what he just said.

The doorbell rang which snapped us out of our gazes.

"I'll get that," Aaron said.

When he was gone, us three girls started setting up bowls in the middle of the table, swapping glances between each other as Elena told us she needed to go grab something from upstairs. We could hear Bonnie mumbling something about birthday candles from behind us, knowing what she was up to.

* * *

><p>The only thing you could hear was the silent clatter of silverware against our plates and the loud chewing that was going on. It wasn't even ten minutes into the dinner, and things already felt awkward.<p>

Stefan was at the head of the table, I was sitting next to him, Elena across from me, Bonnie beside her, Carter sitting on my left, Wren beside Bonnie, and Aaron was at the other end of the table.

I heard Wren speak up after taking a bite of food. "Did Mr. Tanner give you a hard time today?"

"Wait," I said, wondering exactly what she was talking about. "You joined the team?"

Stefan smiled at the excitement in my voice. "Well, he did allow me on the team, so I must have done something right."

I chuckled, looking at Bonnie. "Bonnie, you should've seen Stefan today. Tyler threw the ball right at him, and-"

"Yeah, I heard," Bonnie interrupted, obviously not wanting to hear anymore.

Uncomfortably, I took a drink of my soda.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family," Elena chimed in, trying to ease the tension.

Bonnie deflated, glowering at her friend. "Um, divorced, no mom, live with my dad."

"Hmm," Stefan nodded.

"No, about the witches," Elena said through gritted teeth.

That caused Stefan to look at her with interest.

"Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches," Elena continued. "It's _really cool_."

"Cool isn't the word I'd use."

"I would," I said.

"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s."

"My family came by way of Salem."

"Really?" Stefan asked. Bonnie nodded. "Salem witches?"

"Yeah."

Stefan looked back at Elena. "That's actually really cool."

"Really? Why?"

Here comes a history lesson.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and non-conformity."

The way Bonnie smiled, as if gaining confidence in knowing what witches were, made me smile too. "Yeah, they are."

"See, I knew you two would get along." I grabbed Stefan's hand and mine and looked at him lovingly.

Just then the doorbell rang, and my heard dropped at the thought of it being you-know-who behind it.

Elena dropped her fork and got up from her chair. "I wonder who that could be."

"I'll get it!" I said, pushing past her to the door.

I opened it up and saw Caroline behind it with a red velvet cake in her hands. Ugh, my favorite. "Surprise!" Behind her was Damon. "Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert."

"Oh, well that's awfully sweet of you, but..."

"Hope you don't mind," Damon said, and my fake smile disappeared from my face.

Without a word of refusal, Caroline barged in past me, my eyes still stuck on Damon.

Stefan came to the rescue, fortunately. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for Tessa to invite me in."

Well, technically, I couldn't because my house wasn't in my name. Elena would have to do the deed.

"Uh. No," I told him, Caroline shooting me a death glare.

"Yeah, Damon, I think it'd be best," Stefan started. "He can't, uh...can't stay. Can you, Damon?"

"Get in here," Caroline urged.

"We're just finishing up," Stefan said.

Then Elena walked up to us and gave Damon the green light. "It's fine. Just come on in."

I about wanted to pull my hair out.

Damon looked between Stefan and I, smirking, and strolled inside. Stefan and I shared a look...one I couldn't explain.

"You have a beautiful home, Elena." Damon looked around the house, complimenting Elena.

"Thank you."

**WREN'S POV**

"I cannot believe Mr. Tanner let you on the team," Caroline gushed. We were now sitting in Elena's living room, trying to enjoy some small talk. "Oh, Tyler must be seething. But good for you, go for it."

"And it was all thanks to me," Carter said, stuffing her face with the cake.

Stefan smiled at my bestie.

"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage," Damon said. "You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it."

"Yeah, Wren wasn't so lucky today."

I shot a glare at Caroline.

"It's only because you're new. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines."

Bonnie was sitting in the other couch in between Carter and Aaron. "I'll work with her."

"Well, I guess we can put her in the back."

Now that, I scoffed at.

"You don't seem like the cheerleader type, Wren." I pulled my eyes away from Caroline, looking at Damon.

"It's only because..." Tessa was conjuring up a lie, I could tell by the face she made. "...our parents died. Ever since then, she's been in this moody faze - practically sucks the fun out of everything. Actually, all of our parents died."

Carter now stopped eating, staring at Tessa like she wounded an animal. Her mother actually died sometime when she was very young, so I bet what Tessa said was bringing back memories.

"I'm sorry, Wren, Tessa," Damon told us with fake sensitivity. "I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have witnessed almost every single person we've ever cared about die."

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon," Stefan scolded.

"Ah, you know what, you're right, 'Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring _her _up."

Looking over at my sister, I saw that she was fighting back the tears, and doing a pretty good job at it.

* * *

><p>Elena was stuck back at the dishwasher when we were all in the living room. So, I offered to help her out. She left the room and now I was getting ready to fill up the dishwasher.<p>

I was just about to close things up when I heard Damon walk in. "One more."

"Oh, thanks."

I reached out for the glass, but he let go of it and caught it when it was barely an inch off the ground. I giggled. "Nice catch." I grabbed the glass from him.

"I like you," he pointed out.

What, you like me? I felt my heart skip a few beats at that.

"You know how to laugh. And you make Stefan smile, which is something I haven't seen in a very long time."

"Yeah, well he is my friend." I shrugged, and put the glass down, biting nervously at my bottom lip. "Earlier, did you mean Savannah?" It was now or never.

"Mm-hmm." Damon helped out by grabbing the plate I was about to place into the rack.

"How did she die?" Probably the same way Katherine did.

"In a fire. Tragic fire."

"Recently?"

Damon was leaning against the counter, arms crossed, thinking. "Well, it seems like it was yesterday."

I grabbed another plate. "What was she like?"

"She was pretty, a lot like her two sisters - Emma and Katherine - a lot like Tessa in that department. She was just very complicated, and selfish, and kind at times, a lot different than Katherine. But all three were very sexy and seductive in their own ways."

I thought I had stopped breathing. "Wait, so she had sisters? Emma and...Katherine?"

He nodded.

"What were they like?"

"Katherine was...meaner, and liked to toy with people. Emma, she was down-to-Earth and wasn't scared of adventure." The way he talked about Emma made me feel jealous somehow. It's obvious he loved her. A lot.

"So, which one did you date?" I gave him the plate, watching him put it in the rack.

"Nicely deduced," he chuckled.

Does that mean you're not going to tell me? I didn't question him, and instead turned to the linens that needed folded. For a moment, I thought Damon was going to leave, but he didn't, and ended up helping me out.

"I'd quit cheerleading if I were you."

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Oh, I saw you at practice, you looked miserable."

"You saw that?"

"Am I wrong?"

"It's fun, I'll give you that. But...things are complicated in my life...and Tessa's, and Carters, and Aaron's. Things are different, and we're trying to...start fresh, find our place, I guess." Damon raised a brow at me. "It's a long story."

"I have time if you ever want to tell me," he offered.

I sighed. "It's not that easy, Damon."

"But it could be."

It dawned on me how much I missed my parents and my old life. It tore me apart every now and then that I was taking this opportunity to live in one of my favorite TV shows when I should've been finding a way home. But everything is so confusing that I don't even know if our universe even exists anymore, that maybe we have a past that we have to uncover for ourselves.

Looking up from the deep red napkins, I looked into Damon's crystal blue eyes. "I'm sorry." I said it without thinking. "About Emma. You lost her too."

Damon wasn't expecting that, and I could tell.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

In the living room, Caroline and Stefan were the only people there, and they were talking about all sorts of different things. Well, Caroline was. She really knew how to talk.

Caroline took a sip of coffee as Stefan's eyes traveled to her neck, a scarf tied there. "That's a really nice scarf," he surveyed with a point of his finger.

"Oh, thank you. It's new."

Stefan moved down the couch closer to Caroline. "Can I see it?" Caroline tilted her head. "I mean, would you mind taking it off?"

"Oh, I can't."

"Why not? You okay?"

"Um..." It was obvious that Damon compelled Caroline, and she seemed to be raking her brain for what to say. "All I know is that I can't take it off."

Damon interrupted them. "What are you two kids talking about?" He plopped himself down right beside Caroline on the armrest of her chair.

"I was just commenting on her scarf."

Damon didn't look happy about that. "Mm...hey, you know, um, the girls are finishing up the dishes. Why don't you go see if you can help?"

Caroline scoffed, "Does it look like I do dishes?"

"For me?" Damon asked.

"Hmm. I don't think so."

Damon waited for Caroline to turn her head back to him. When she did, their eyes met and he began compelling her. "Go see if the girls need help in the kitchen."

"You know what? I'm gonna go see if they need some help in the kitchen." Caroline got up and walked off.

"They are people, Damon. She's not a puppet," Stefan said. "She doesn't exist for your amusement; for you to feed on whenever you want to."

"Sure she does," he shrugged. "They all do. They're whatever I want them to be. They're mine for the taking."

Stefan shook his head. "All right, you've had your fun. You used Caroline, you got to me and Wren, good for you. Now it's time for you to go."

"That's not a problem." Damon said it in the most obvious way possible. "Because...I've been invited in, and I'll come back tomorrow night and the following night and I'll do, with your little cheerleader buddy, whatever I want to do." He placed a brotherly hand on Stefan's shoulder. "Because that is what is normal to me."

**TESSA'S POV**

I was upstairs in my bedroom sitting across from Stefan on the bed. Wren, Carter, and Aaron left a little while ago to pick up some late night coffee from the Grill, leaving me alone with my boyfriend.

_My boyfriend_; it had a delicious ring to it. I loved it!

"Tonight wasn't so bad, I had fun," I told him honestly.

Stefan laughed lightly. "That makes one of us."

Should I lie to make him feel better? Or should I come out and say how much I hated Damon?

I sucked in a breath. "Your brother isn't...so bad. He's just very-" I was silenced when Stefan put a finger on my lips. _Oh my God. _He was giving me a lustful stare and I could feel my heart jumping from my chest.

Stefan's hand went to the back of my neck, pulling me towards him into a breathy kiss. He pushed me back against the pillows, kissing me deeper. But no, he was not going to have control of this.

I pushed him back and I fell on top of him, kissing him some more as I fiddled with the hem of my shirt. I giggled when he threw a pillow down irritatedly onto the floor that seemed to migrate from the head of the bed. I pulled back and took my shirt off, my purple lace bra sticking to my tan skin. Reaching down, I kissed him again.

Stefan was now taking his shirt off, and I was too caught up in the pleasure to realize what was going to happen. I smiled, but it vanished when I saw Damon's face instead of Stefan's.

That's when I woke up gasping.

It was darker outside than in my dream now, and the light from the moon illuminated my sister's sleeping form beside mine. I felt shaky now, my hand coming up to my hair to push a strand back behind my ear.

I pushed away the covers with my feet and got out of bed, grabbing a glass on the computer desk by the window. I never even noticed that black crow staring at me through it.

**WREN'S POV**

The towel was wrapped tightly around my frame as I reentered the bedroom Tessa and I had become the inhabitants of. Sitting on the edge of the bed, laid out by my sister, was the red, black, and white cheerleading uniform. I hadn't made a decision yet on whether to stick through with it or to quit.

I shook my head and went to the large mirror, making a decision as I went.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

_There must be a shred of humanity left inside my brother. Somewhere. I keep hoping. But how do I make him see it? And how do I protect them? _Stefan leaned back in his chair after finishing his journal entry. There were lots of thoughts running through his mind, and he couldn't comprehend either of them.

He looked to his right at a small chest sitting on a bookshelf, an idea coming to mind. Stefan grabbed it, placed it on his desk and opened it up. Inside it was papers upon papers, but that wasn't what he was looking for. When he found it, the tiny little box, a thoughtful smile appeared on his lips.

**TESSA'S POV**

I met up with Wren and Carter before the game. Apparently we had some things to talk about, according to Carter.

My body was dressed in the cheer uniform, and I frowned when I saw Wren walking towards me wearing regular clothes; a white shirt, skinny jeans, jean jacket, and Converse shoes. She shrugged at my face, keeping quiet.

"You quit, didn't you?" I asked. Behind her I saw Elena walking around. "And I guess Elena did too."

"Yeah. Cheerleading really isn't my thing." Wren pushed a strand of wavy hair behind her ear nervously. "When's Carter getting here?"

"I don't know. She texted me an hour ago saying to meet here."

Out of a group of people, Carter emerged from the bunch with Aaron trailing behind her. She looked annoyed, he looked careless.

Carter gave us a forced smile. "Hey, guys. Aaron here has some news to share with you two. Don't you, Aaron?"

Aaron sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah."

The three of us stood there, waiting.

"I...I'm a..." he shook his head. "I'm a warlock."

My eyes grew wide. "You - really?"

Aaron nodded. "Mhm. That's how I knew where Elena's spoons were last night. And how I almost set the Grill on fire."

"You almost set the Grill on fire?" Wren and I yelled in unison.

"Hey, keep it down," he rushed. "I don't want this getting out."

"That's not the only thing we need to talk about," Carter began. "What did Damon tell you last night?" She was looking at Wren.

"He told me about Savannah's two sisters; Emma and Katherine. By the way he talked about Emma, it tells me he really loved the girl."

"That doesn't make any sense," I said. "Katherine was supposed to be the one that Stefan and Damon fell for. Right?"

"Yeah, but ever since we came here things have changed. Like how we're in place for Elena lots of times," Wren pointed out. "It's...weird."

"Not that many times. Just...every now and then."

Carter pursed her lips. "So, Aaron's a warlock. What are we?"

I shrugged at that. I didn't want to be anything, actually. I just wanted to be myself.

"Maybe we're just normal humans. And it needs to stay that way. We don't blow our cover, got it?" Wren said firmly. "If it gets out that we don't belong here, can you imagine what'll happen?"

We all stayed silent once we saw Stefan walk up to us.

I tried to act normal. "Wow, you look...hot in your jersey. But you look hot in everything, trust me."

I watched as my friends shot glances at my awkwardness.

Stefan smiled, looking at Wren. "What happened? No more cheerleader?"

"I quit."

"Yeah, she's a quitter," I added.

Stefan looked around, nervous about something. "Uh, I hope you don't think this is too soon or too weird, but..." he pulled a little wooden box out from the back of his pocket. "I, uh, I wanted you to have this." He opened it up and inside was Elena's vervain necklace.

It was prettier in person. "Oh my God. It's beautiful." I picked it up carefully, scared I might break it somehow.

"It's something that I've had forever, and, uh, I've never wanted to give it to anyone until now. I'd very much luck it if you'd wear it for me, for good luck."

Or to resist compulsion, but really, anything works. I brought it to my nose and smelled it. It did smell like roses. "Rose?"

"No, it's, uh, it's a herb."

Just be honest with me already, Stefan.

"It's nice, huh?"

"I love it," I told him sincerely. I turned around and allowed him to put it on me.

Afterwards, he looked at Carter. "I wanted to thank you, by the way, for pushing me to try out for the team."

"You're welcome," Carter smiled.

Then, Stefan met my eyes. He placed his hand under my chin almost like he did in my nightmare, and kissed me.

Beside me, I heard Caroline walk up to Wren. "And you're not in uniform because?"

Wren's expression was priceless, as if she was scared of the "all mighty" Caroline Forbes.

* * *

><p>The game was just about to start, but first the football team, cheerleaders, and other students were standing around Mr. Tanner as he gave a speech about tonights game.<p>

"Let's be honest, in the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us!" The crowd booed, and I waved one of my pom-poms in the air. "But that is about to change." Then we all cheered. "We've got some great new talent tonight starting tonight on the offensive line, and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these." I kept my eyes on Stefan, waiting for the big announcement. Some of his teammates already knew who Tanner was talking about. "Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!"_  
><em>

I screamed, "Whoo, Stefan!"

I saw Tyler lean into Matt to tell him something, and it was about Stefan, I knew it was. Then he left through the crowd of people.

"...that have been waiting for us to put a check in the win column, I have only one thing to say to you - your Timberwolves are hungry."

The crowd began cheering again.

**AARON'S POV**

I was standing off to the side when I saw Tyler walking away from the other teenagers. He was talking to Vicki Donovan before he practically plowed over her just to get to Jeremy, who was sitting on the bed of a truck with a bottle of alcohol in his hands.

I could tell this wasn't going to end well.

It all started when Jeremy punched Tyler in the face, and he got shoved into the truck by Tyler. I didn't know what to really do other than to just try to break them up.

"Hey, Tyler!" I screamed, trying to get him to back off. "Tyler!"

Tyler shoved me away before picking Jeremy up and slamming him down onto the grass.

"Stop you're hurting him!" Vicki screamed. "Tyler, stop!"

Tyler took another swing, but was stopped when Stefan grabbed onto him out of nowhere. "Hey, he's down! Enough!" Tyler didn't listen, and instead, punch Stefan in the abdomen. All Stefan did was stand there.

I stood back, watching Jeremy pick up the broken bottle. Elena then emerged from the crowd, looking for her brother. Tyler went in for another punch, but ducked out of the way when Jeremy brought the bottle up and sliced Stefan's hand.

Elena ran for her brother. "What the Hell, Jeremy!"

Tessa went for Stefan. "Oh, my God. Are you okay? Your hand?"

"No, no, no. It's fine." Stefan put his hand behind his back.

"Stefan, don't do that." Tessa grabbed his hand and opened it up, standing there without a shred of surprise. "But, I saw it."

"He missed. It's not my blood."

My blood boiled at the sight of Stefan lying to Tessa, again.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Elena was on a mission. After seeing what Jeremy did to Stefan, and watching as he talked to Tessa, she wanted to know more.

She found Bonnie standing by the other cheerleaders who were given direct orders by Caroline. Her friend saw her, smiling. "Hey! Where you been?"

"Can I ask you a question and you give me a really serious no-joke response?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"The bad mojo. When you touched Stefan and had that reaction-"

"You know what, forget I said that. Tessa's little dinner party plot totally won me over."

"No, Bonnie, seriously. What was it? Did you see something, or..."

Bonnie realized she wasn't getting out of this, so she sighed. "It wasn't clear like a picture. Like today, I keep seeing those same number I told you about - 8, 14, 22. When I touched Stefan, it was a feeling. And it vibrated through me and it was cold, and it -"

"It what?"

"It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like."

**WREN'S POV**

Before the game started, Elena asked me to grab her sweater from her car. I told her I would and that's how I ended up here; in the dark parking lot beside the field.

I opened up the back and grabbed what she needed. When I slammed it shut and turned around, I didn't expect Damon to be standing there. He caught be by surprise.

I gasped, "You scared me. What are you doing here?"

"I'm hiding from Caroline," he whispered, as if she'd jump out at any moment.

I whispered back, "And why is that?"

"I needed a break. She talks more than I can listen."

"That could be a sign."

"Well, she's awfully young."

"Pfft, not much younger that you are." I didn't mean to laugh, but it fought it's way up. "You're like...24."

He chuckled. "I don't see it going anywhere in the bigger picture. I think she'd drive me crazy."

"Caroline's not all that bad," I said, getting defensive quickly. Hearing him say that about Caroline, who was one of my favorite characters, made me jump at the chance to defend her. "And she's a really great girl who doesn't need her heart broken by some blue eyed, handsome bad boy."

"Dully noted. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. That's not my intention." Then a second of silence passed between us. "Handsome bad boy, you say?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm out of here."

I pushed past him, but he shot out and grabbed my wrist. It wasn't rough or gentle. "I see 'em. You want me."

That made me look at him, furrowing my brow. That was true, but not like this. "Excuse me?"

"I get to you, you find yourself drawn to me. You think about me when you don't want to think about me. I bet you've even dreamed about me."

More times than not, truth be told.

"And right now..." his eyes were now attacking mine, searching them. "...you want to kiss me."

Something came over me. It wasn't able to be fought, but somehow, someway, I managed to bring my hand up and slap him just as he tried to actually kiss me.

"What the Hell? I don't know what game you're trying to play with Stefan here, but I don't want to be part of it. And I don't know what happened in the past, but let's get one thing straight." I got in his face, closer than I'd have liked. "I am not Emma."

With that, I took off at a fast pace, away from him and away from the game entirely.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

The team was walking back to their locker rooms after what had just happened out on the field.

"You gonna be able to play?" Matt asked Stefan.

"Oh, yeah, I'm good."

"Uh, what you did back there...you had Jeremy's back."

"Ah, he's a messed up kid." Stefan stopped walking just as Matt did. "Somebody's gotta look out for him."

"I know...this week at practice, I was a dick."

Stefan grinned. "Had your reasons."

"No excuse." Matt held out his hand and waited for Stefan to take it. He did. "Good luck tonight. We're lucky to have you."

Stefan was left alone, at least he thought he was. There was the sound of clapping coming from behind him. He whirled around to see Damon in the shadows.

"Isn't that nice? Stefan joins a team, makes a friend. It's all so, 'Rah, rah, go team, yeah!'" Damon threw his fist in the air for emphasis.

Stefan wasn't having this. "Not tonight. I'm done with you."

Damon used his vampire speed to flash in front of Stefan. "Nice trick with Wren. Let me guess - vervain in...her tea?"

Stefan didn't understand what he was talking about.

"I admit, I was a bit surprised. It's been a while since anyone could resist my compulsion. Where'd you get it?"

"I didn't vervain her." Stefan shook his head. "Does it matter anyway?"

"Guess I could just seduce her the old-fashioned way. Or I could just eat her."

Stefan was on his way into the locker rooms when that stopped him. "No." He turned around. "You're not gonna hurt her or anyone, Damon."

"No?"

"Because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside you; that you may have actually become the monster you pretend to be."

"Who's pretending?"

"Then kill me."

Damon scoffed. "Well, I'm - I'm tempted."

"No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are. You're still haunting me. After 145 year. Emma is dead, and you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity."

While Stefan was talking, Damon's eyes glazed over as he heard her name. He didn't want to hear it; hated hearing about how he's still in love with her and has his humanity somewhere deep down inside.

Mr. Tanner's voice erupted from behind them. "Salvatore!" Damon smirked.

Stefan turned around to the older human man.

"What the Hell? We've got a game to play!" The coach began walking towards the duo.

"If that's my humanity," Damon said emotionless, "then what's this?"

The blue eyed vampire ran at Mr. Tanner and grabbed him, sinking his fangs into the hot flesh of the human. Tanner screamed as Stefan watched, trying to say something to get Damon to stop.

It didn't take long for the body to fall from Damon's hands and hit the ground with a thunk.

Damon had blood covering his chin, and his eyes were still red. "Anyone, any time, any place."

Stefan stood there, mouth open, trying to figure out if there really wasn't humanity left in his brother after all.

* * *

><p>From inside the locker room, the team was getting suited up for the game. "Tanner's M.I.A. I think he had a little bit too much beer," Tyler said after shutting his red locker shut.<p>

"Don't talk to me right now, all right? I'm pissed at you," Matt snapped.

"What's your problem?"

"What's my problem? You're my problem, all right? You're a bully. A friggin' 12-year-old bully, man. And I'm sick of it. I mean, what was that about tonight, huh? What's beating up the new guy going to prove?"

Tyler belittled Matt's words.

Matt got up on his feet. "Or screwing with my sister? Or pummeling my girlfriend's kid brother?"

"Girlfriend?" Tyler asked in disbelief . "Look, I don't know how to tell you this, but she dumped your ass."

Matt grabbed Tyler by his shoulder pads and pushed him up into the lockers.

Tyler pushed Matt away. "Are you for real? You want to hit me? I'm on _your _team."

Matt gulped. "This was over the line. Even for you."

He didn't stick around and walked out of the door and outside to see where Mr. Tanner was. He looked around and found his History teacher's body laying there with his throat ripped out, laying in a pool of blood.

"Somebody help!" Matt hollered.

By the time the police and ambulances arrived, everyone was watching them take their teacher's body away, taking in every bit of detail of the scene.

Bonnie felt herself tear up as she stood behind the yellow tape.

"Bonnie?" Carter asked her cautiously.

Bonnie didn't listen and kept looking at the numbers she kept seeing. The 8 was on a sign that said 'BLDG', the 14 on a license plate number, and the 22 on the ground by the blood Tanner left behind. She gasped when she realized what it meant.

"Bonnie, let's get you out of here." Carter took her friend by the shoulders and ushered her away from the crime scene.

**TESSA'S POV**

The tears threatened their way out as I stood by our car with Wren and Stefan. He was helping me put on my jacket as I ranted about what had happened to Mr. Tanner. In all honesty, I forgot it was coming. Witnessing it over TV wasn't like witnessing it in real life. Yeah, I hated the guy. But I didn't wish him dead.

"Why would it come out of the woods and attack someone in the middle of town?" I knew it was Damon, but I had to play along like I didn't know that. And I couldn't help but be a little suspicious. I wanted answers and the truth from Stefan.

"I don't know," Stefan said after I turned around to face him.

"I'll get the car started up," Wren offered.

When she left, Stefan put his hands to my cheeks. I stared at his hand that was injured.

"I saw the glass cut your hand. I saw it."

"I'm gonna be fine. I'm gonna be fine, okay?" He grabbed my hand. "We're fine. And that's what matters."

I nodded and I pulled him into a tight embrace. I was scared of Damon, and vampires in general that weren't Stefan. Tonight I just saw what one could do. I may not of been there when it happened, but seeing the aftermath and Mr. Tanner's throat all bloody, it gave me a wake up call.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

_I thought there was hope. That somewhere deep inside, something in Damon was still human. Normal. _Stefan placed a hand to the bridge of his nose in thought as he put all his words on paper. _But I was wrong. There's nothing human left in Damon. No, good, no kindness, no love. Only a monster. Who must be stopped._

* * *

><p>Damon stood over Wren's sleeping body. Her shoulder length waves were spread out amongst the vast amount of pillows. Tessa wasn't to bed yet, but Damon didn't hurry himself to make this quick.<p>

He tilted his head and ran his fingers down her face, pushing a piece of hair out of the way. He did it again, just watching her sleep.

Wren awoke slowly then. Just in time for Damon to make his escape. She looked tiredly around at her room and shut off her bedside light, the feeling of someone caressing her face lulling her back to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	5. Family Ties

**Disclaimer**: As much as I'd like to, I do not own The Vampire Diaries. But I do own the characters you see in the story and some of my own plot twists.

* * *

><p><em><strong><span>Chapter Four; Part One: "Family Ties"<span>**_

**WREN'S POV**

I was sitting in my old bedroom, in my real house, in my real world. The TV was turned on to an episode during the second season of _The Vampire Diaries_. Elena was standing up on the mountain talking about life as a vampire; that she didn't want it and wanted to live a regular human life. I scoffed as she talked. I'll be the first to admit that Elena wasn't my favorite character of the series. It was Katherine. Surprise, surprise.

My cell phone began to ring from my bedside table. I reached over and grabbed it, smiling at Carter's name popping up on the screen. "Hey."

"_Hey._"

"Aren't you supposed to be working?" I looked at my alarm clock to see it was nearing 8 PM.

"_I am. But I need to call you because something just happened outside the diner._" Her voice was urgent, and I felt my skin prickle with goosebumps.

"Yeah?"

"_A girl was attacked...she...it's bad, Wren. Her throat was torn out and there was blood everywhere,_" Carter said with tears in her voice.

I jumped up from my bed and hurried around while looking for my jacket. "Carter, was it someone we knew? Someone we went to school with?"

I could hear Carter gulp down her tears. "_It...I..._"

"Carter, tell me."

"_It was Tessa._"

My heart dropped. It was like everything stopped for a second. "W-What?"

But there was no sound coming from the other end. It was just static.

I threw my phone onto my bed, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand up suddenly.

"Bad news?" a husky voice asked from behind me. I turned around to see Damon standing there; dressed in all black, a smirk on his face.

"No. No, no, no, no." I shook my head, gulped, and ran towards my door. But he was faster.

He slammed the door shut and kept me pined there with only about two inches of space between us. I was breathing heavily, but was enjoying the feeling of having Damon near me like this at the same time.

"Just leave me alone," I cried, turning around slowly to face him. "What do you want?"

Damon leaned into my neck, and I heard him breath me in. That was a huge turn-on. _Snap out of it, Wren, _I told myself.

The words he said took me aback. "I know who you are."

I stared at him before I felt myself lose consciousness, causing me to wake up back in Elena's house.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Tessa's heart beat was fast and she felt sweat bead her forehead as she woke up in a jolt. Looking around, she saw I was still in Elena's house, laying in a now unmade bed. It was dark outside. That spelled bad news.

There was a pounding coming from somewhere in the house, making her gasp and sit up straight. Wren was snoring beside her, thankfully.

She jumped out of bed and went into the hallway. "Hello?" she asked. The hall lights were on, but the downstairs was completely dark. "Jeremy?" She went to the banister and looked over the edge. "Elena?"

There was a shadow that moved and a creaking noise. This was the part where she should run, wasn't it? She did run, however, but down the stairs to survey the scene.

Tessa ran into the kitchen and tried to flick the lights on. But to no avail.

Logan Fell's voice interrupted her constant flicking. His words were coming from the TV in the living room. "This is Logan Fell coming to you live from the streets of Mystic Falls with breaking news of another deadly animal attack." The girl walked closer towards the room. "The wild animal terrorizing the citizens of Mystic Falls has claimed another victim. Local high school student Tessa Bardell." Her photo flashed onto the screen. "Police are certain that forensic evidence will confirm that this is the same animal responsible for recent attacks."

Damon's voice came from behind her. "You know it's coming next."

She looked back at him, seeing him standing there in all his bad boy glory. She ran for the front door, opened it, and screamed when Damon was behind it. Tessa slammed it shut with a big bang and slid to the floor with her hands over my eyes after seeing him in the doorway of the kitchen.

She moved her hands from her face to see him gone from his spot. Slowly, Tessa stood up and walked deeper inside. That's when he sunk his teeth into her throat.

Stefan woke up, sitting straight up in bed. Across from him, sitting at his desk, was Damon, who was smirking gleefully at the nightmare he placed in Stefan's head.

"Bad dream?" he tempted. "Do you know how easy it was to get in your head just now?" He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "You really need some human blood. It might even the playing field." A second of silence passed. "Football reference. Too soon?"

Stefan was beyond annoyed by now, which caused him to run towards a letter opener and throw it at Damon's heart, not even hurting him one bit. Damon glanced down at the sharp object penetrating his skin, and stood up as if unharmed. He took it out and looked at the blade.

"All right, I deserved that. But I just wanted you to know, they caught the culprit."

Stefan's eyes flicked up to his brother's.

"The animal responsible for killing Coach Tanner and all those people."

Stefan's brows came together. "What are you talking about?"

"It was a mountain lion; really big one." He emphasized on how big with his hand. "It attacked a hunter this morning. It's all over the news." He brought his hand up and acted as if he was reading the headline right now. "'Deadly beast captured. Alls's well in Mystic Falls'."

"Why would you cover your tracks?"

Damon moved across the room. "I've decided to stay a while. I'm just having so much fun here with you and Wren."

"You can't touch her," Stefan mentioned as if Damon didn't realize that.

"Well, whatever is keeping me out of her head, vervain or not, keeps me out. But maybe that's not my target," Damon hinted mischievously. "Believe it or not, Stefan, some girls don't need my persuasion. Some girls just can't resist my good looks, my style and my charm." Damon strutted over to Stefan. "And my unflinching ability to listen to...Taylor Swift." He took the letter opener and stabbed Stefan, the younger brother falling to his knees in pain.

Damon glanced down at the hole in his shirt that was masked with blood. "This is John Varvatos, dude. Dick move."

Stefan had his hand wrapped around the handle of the letter opener, and inhaled sharply as he yanked it out from beneath his skin. He lifted up his shirt and stared at the wound that was now knitting itself back together. One of the many perks of being a vampire; quick healing.

* * *

><p>Stefan was staring a the television by his desk while writing in his diary. Liz Forbes, the sheriff and also Caroline Forbes' mother, was talking about the mountain lion with the news reporter Logan Fell.<p>

"I can confirm that a 12-foot puma mountain lion attacked a hunter and was subsequently shot and killed. The hunter is in stable condition," the blonde said.

Stefan turned back to his journal and began writing again. _The real animal is still out there, waiting for me, challenging me to fight back, to stop him. But how do I stop a monster without becoming one myself?_

**WREN'S POV**

"To repeat, the animal terrorizing Mystic Falls has been caught," Logan Fell said from over the TV as Tessa, Elena, and I walked in the kitchen.

Jenna was standing there at the table, watching the news broadcast with hooded eyelids, focusing on the man speaking. "Scum ball. Scum bucket." She was shaking her head back and forth, displeased about something.

"Who are you talking to?" Elena asked, confused.

"Him," Jenna replied, flicking her head towards the TV.

Elena looked at the monitor. "The news guy?"

"Also known as Logan "Scum" Fell." Jenna looked from the TV to Elena. "Did your Mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?"

All of us girls chuckled. "Oh, no way," Elena said in disbelief. "You and him?" She glanced back at the television. "He's cute."

"He is not cute," Jenna pointed out. "There is nothing cute about him."

"I have to agree with Jenna on this one," I said. "Definitely not cute."

Tessa nodded with me.

Elena didn't say anything and sat down at the head of the table, opening up a gold metal box that contained different types of things in it. I remembered this episode being the one with the Founder's ball. I didn't know if Tessa and I were going, but we probably were.

Jenna sipped on her coffee. "What are you doing with that?"

"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the Founder's council for their heritage display." Elena polished off one of the trinkets.

Jenna pulled a ring from the box. "Is that Grandma Beth's wedding ring?"

"Originally it was great, great Grandma Mary's wedding ring," Elena informed just as Jeremy walked into the kitchen.

Jeremy reached over Tessa and grabbed a watch from the box. "How much do you think this stuff is worth? You know, like on eBay?"

Tessa slapped his hand away. "You're not going to find out, that's for sure."

Jeremy scowled at her before going to the refrigerator. "That stuff is Mom and Dad's. You can't just give it away."

"I'm not giving it away. It's called a loan, Jeremy."

I rolled my eyes at their brother-sister bickering just as I heard the door open from down the hall. Looking to my right, I saw Carter walk inside with Stefan following her.

"Tessa! You're boyfriend's here!" she yelled singsong-like once she walked inside the kitchen.

I laughed at the face my sister made, knowing she was going to scold our friend. But she didn't, and just jumped to her feet and pulled Stefan up the stairs to our bedroom.

I really didn't want to know what they were doing up there. So, I kept to myself as Carter sat down in Tessa's now abandoned seat, looking at the jewelry that Elena laid out.

"How's Aaron?" I asked. It seems like he's always gone these days and doesn't have any time to spend with unless it's with Carter.

Carter shrugged her flannel clad shoulders. "Wouldn't know. It's like he lives under a rock these days." She picked up a gold bracelet, examining it without looking at me. "How's Damon?"

Elena set her hands on the table at the sound of his name. "Damon? As in Damon Salvatore?" I simply nodded. "Are you two like...you know?"

"No. Unlike some girls, I actually have standards."

"That's not what I heard," Carter cooed. "A little birdy told me that he almost kissed you at the game the other day."

"_Almost_. It's not like he did."

Carter hummed as if she didn't believe me.

"It's true," I said defensively. "I wouldn't touch him."

"But I bet you wanted to."

I heard Elena laugh at that, and I kicked Carter from under the table, who let out a stifled 'ow' sound. "_Anyway_, who are you taking to the dance tonight, Elena?"

Elena smiled. "Aaron."

Me and Carter widened our eyes. "Aaron?"

"Yep. He texted me this morning asking if I'd go with him."

Carter shook her head, looking at me. "Now all we have to do is find Wren a date."

"Who are you going with?" I asked, realizing that Carter hasn't been seeing anyone recently.

"Oh." Carter put down the bracelet and sucked in her lips. "I'm not going."

"What? No, you have to go."

"I hate wearing dresses, Wren. Especially if it's for some formal event."

"But you look _so _good in one," I complimented, hoping I'd persuade her into going.

"I don't see the point anyway. It's not like me or you are Founding family members."

I watched as Jenna came up and sat beside Carter, sliding mugs of coffee in front of the two of us. "Speaking of family, you guys really never told me about who your guys' parents were."

A look of hesitancy came between Carter and I. "Uh...our parents are gone..." Carter said, making up a lie.

"Oh. It's just that...ever since I met Wren and Tessa, it's like I've seen them before. It's creepy. I just thought that maybe you guys were once family friends. It's okay, though, if you don't want to talk about it," Jenna said.

"It's not that we don't like talking about it. It's just...complicated talking about. Nobody'd understand." I waved her off, reassuring her that it was okay.

Jenna nodded, just as Carter nervously smiled over the rim of her coffee mug.

**TESSA'S POV**

Stefan had his hand on my waist and the other behind my neck, pulling me deeper into him, our tongues battling for dominance. He leaned me back on the bed, hovering over top of me as he placed kisses onto my neck and collarbone. But he stopped suddenly, causing me to chuckle.

"Are you okay?" I asked towards his back.

"I'm good." He swallowed. "Sorry."

"Maybe we should press pause."

He turned around, grinning. "Yeah, you're probably right. That was getting a bit..."

"Yeah."

"Yeah," he agreed.

Stefan got up from the bed and went over to a seat by the window, putting on his shoes. I got up to the edge of the bed and looked him over.

"How do you look in a suit?" I already knew the answer, but hey, I was trying to make conversation here.

"I can pull one off."

"How about tomorrow night? Will you be my date to the Founder's party?"

Stefan put on his final shoe. "They still do that?"

"You've been before?" I already knew the answer, however.

"No, uh, the Salvatores don't get invited anymore."

"Well, there's this heritage project that means a lot to Elena, about her family and all that, but she wants me to go and if you didn't want to then-"

"I would be honored to accompany you, Miss. Bardell."

I could feel myself grinning like an idiot. "The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Salvatore."

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Caroline strolled into the Grill with Bonnie by her side.

"You're taking Damon to the Founder's party?" Bonnie asked. "What about me?"

"Go with Elena."

"She's asking Aaron."

"Okay, go by yourself," Caroline suggested. The two of them sat down at a table.

"Gee, thanks," Bonnie said, faking a smile. "What about your Mom? Is she okay with you bringing Damon?"

Caroline, seeming careless, said, "And I'm supposed to care why?"

"He's older sexy danger guy."

"Older sexy danger guy? Is that an official witch twitter tweet?"

Bonnie got serious. "No more witch jokes, okay? That whole Mr. Tanner prediction thing has me freaked."

Caroline flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Okay." There was a pause. "And Damon's not dangerous. You know. he just has a lot of issues with his brother. You know like major, deep-rooted drama."

"Like...?"

Caroline bit her lip. "I'm not really supposed to say anything."

"Caroline Forbes, when have you ever kept a secret in your life?" Bonnie had a point.

"Okay. But you can't tell Tessa."

Bonnie straightened up, happy to hear she was going to learn about this little secret. "No."

* * *

><p>Zach walked through the Boarding House to the parlor, where Damon was perched with a large book in his hands. He was flipping through the pages as Zach found his voice.<p>

"I didn't know you were here."

"Just going through Stefan's homework. Boy, this country sure has dumbed down in the last hundred years. Why he wants to go to high school is beyond me. I mean, in the seventies, he went Ivy League. Harvard, I understood. Actually, no. I didn't get that either." He looked down at the pages again. "Go ahead, purge. Get it out. What's on your mind?"

"Why are you here, Damon?"

Her let the book fall to his lap. "To spend time with you, Zach. Family's important."

"I know you. You always have a motive. So tell me, what is it this time?"

Before Zach could blink, Damon had his throat in his hand, staring him down. "You are in no position to question me.

Zach choked, "I didn't mean to upset you."

"This is not upset, Zach," he smirked. He tightened his hold, Zach's face becoming redder.

"What's going on?" Stefan asked upon entrance to the parlor.

Damon dropped Zach. "Having a family moment, Stefan. Spending some quality time." He chuckled, patted Zach, who was having a choking fit, and left the room.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Zach got up on his knees. "No, I'm not. And neither are you. How many people have to die before you see that?"

"I see it. All right, Zach, I see it."

"Then why aren't you doing anything about it?"

"I can't, Zach," Stefan persisted. "I can't. It would take human blood. It's the only way that I could stop him. And I can't do that."

Zach stood up, finding his balance. "The vervain could weaken him. If he ingested it. It would help you get the upper hand."

Stefan got what he was saying, but was doubtful. "Vervain hasn't grown here since 1865. Damon saw to that. The little I had I gave to Tessa."

Zach looked around cautiously, as if someone could be lurking around the corner.

"What?"

All Zach did was tilt his head and lead the way into the basement. They got to the floor and went through a hallway until they were at a metal door with a small window that had bars over it. The human opened it up, and inside was vervain.

The purple flower-like plants were sprouted, having a purple-blue hue to them. Stefan couldn't believe it once he stepped inside.

"You've been growing it."

"It's just something that's been passed down through generations." Stefan looked at his nephew. "Blood only runs so deep when you're related to vampires. Damon would kill me if he knew that I had it."

"But you're telling me. Why?"

"Because I trust you. And you're gonna need it if you want to get rid of him."

Stefan's eyes moved back to the deathly flowers, wondering what he could do with it.

**TESSA'S POV**

Us girls sat around Elena's dining room table, surveying all the nail polish that Bonnie decided to bring over to get ready for the night. Last night I went with Wren and Carter to pick our dresses. Mine was a purple-pink dress with short sleeves and lace. It was definitely my style. I would pair it tonight with white pumps, keeping things simple.

Wren's dress was a embossed red knee length strapless dress that she'd be wearing with black heels. I told her to straighten her hair tonight, because she needed to do something different. So, hopefully, she'll take my advice.

I looked over at Wren, "Want to paint my nails for me?"

"Sure. What color?"

"White." I watched as she took a white nail polish from Bonnie's make up bag and start applying it onto my already manicured nails.

"Delicate Flower or Naughty Vixen?" Bonnie asked with two colors of polish in her hands.

Elena was over by the kitchen sink. "Tough call. Can we mix them?"

Bonnie smiled. "Look at you, getting all pretty for your date. You seem happy-ish."

"I am...ish." Elena came back over to her seat with a paper towel in hand. "Tonight's going to be a good night."

"Yeah, you and Aaron. I never saw that one coming," I said.

"But we don't blame you," Wren evened out. "Aaron is very attractive."

"He's hot," Bonnie said without thinking. It was obvious she didn't care if we knew her thoughts because, honestly, we knew that already.

Wren continued applying the polish. As we sat there, I remembered Bonnie being very weird when she walked through the door. "Bonnie, was there something you wanted to tell me?"

Bonnie dodged my question. "What if I tell you in the morning? I don't want to ruin the night."

"Bonnie, out with it." I wasn't playing around. I had to know.

"Okay, but it has to go in the vault, because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed. Only we're allowed to know."

Wren stopped painting, suddenly intrigued just as much as I was. Probably more at the mention of Damon.

"Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story."

"Uh-huh." I was unsure if I even wanted to know.

"Do you even know what happened to his ex-girlfriend Savannah?"

"I know that Stefan dated her and it didn't end well."

"Well, Caroline told me that Stefan did some pretty mean things to Savannah, threatening her, forcing her to love him. And he also did something to Emma that Damon holds a grudge over. I just...I just want you to be safe, you know?"

I shook my head. "Stefan would never hurt me. Never. Whatever Damon is telling Caroline is lies. I know him better than Damon and I know he'd never hurt me in any way."

"I just wanted you to know."

I got defensive all of the sudden. "And anyway, his past...relationships...are none of my business."

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar." Bonnie started painting her thumbnail. "That is your business."

"Stefan is none of those things."

Bonnie turned it around. "How do you know?"

I could've told the truth that I knew this episode. But things change, and maybe Stefan isn't the person I knew from the show. I didn't know and kept quiet, watching out of the corner of my eye as Bonnie and Elena exchanged a look that I didn't understand.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Stefan was sitting in his bedroom, putting on a shoe, when Damon walked in shirtless.

"Do they still wear ties to this thing?" he asked.

"Why are you even going?"

"It's only fitting. We were at the very first one, remember?"

"I think it's better if we don't draw attention to ourselves."

"So you should stay here," he suggested, looking into the mirror. "I'll see to it the twins have a good time."

Stefan took a drink of bourbon, unamused.

"My goodness, I've driven you to drink."

Stefan slid on the shoe. "I can't seem to rid myself of you. What else am I supposed to do, besides go about living my life?"

"Besides go about living my life," Damon mocked to his reflection. "See, therein lies your eternal struggle." He turned around. "You're dead, dude. Get over it."

Damon held up a tie to his chest. "What do you think?"

**TESSA'S POV**

"You looks _so _pretty!" I squealed when I saw Carter in her black dress. The sleeves were lace and the bodice was tight, leaving the skirt free flowing and stopped just above her knees. "I wish I could look as good as you."

"Shut up," Carter laughed and turned around to the full length mirror in Elena's room. "Do I look too tall?"

"Too tall? Really?" Wren asked after leaving the bathroom to meet up with the two of us. "You're like 5'5 and now you are at model height. I'd be grateful that you have this opportunity to be tall for once in your life."

"It's just...I don't know. The heels are..."

"Absolutely stunning," I finished. I looked at the black heels. "Stop being such a pessimist, Carter. It tarnishes your image."

She rolled her eyes as I heard the telephone ring. It was laying on the bed, where Elena jumped in and grabbed it.

"Hi, Mrs. Lockwood," Elena greeted. I watched as her smile weakened. "What do you mean? It is? Are you sure? 'Cause I saw it. Let me check. Mm-hmm. I will find it and bring it." She raised off the bed, looking angry. "Okay. Bye."

Everyone cast her a weird look as she hurried into Jeremy's room, running in a slapping his headset off of his head. I followed her the whole time.

"Aah! God, what now?" Jeremy asked as he fixed his headphones.

"The pocket watch. Where is it?"

"What watch?"

"The one you stole from Mom's box." Jeremy glared at her. "Look, Mrs. Lockwood called me, freaking out. It was on the list, Jeremy. And she can't find it and thinks she's the one who lost it."

"Maybe she did. Maybe Tyler took it."

"Don't even play that card. Jeremy, you took it." She pointed the phone at him. "If I go online am I going to find it on eBay? Is that how you pay for your pot?"

Jeremy got up and walked to a set of shelves. "Screw you." From the back of it, he pulled the pocket watch out and held it out. "I would never sell this, okay?"

"Then why did you take it?"

"Because it's supposed to be mine," Jeremy said. "Dad said it goes to the firstborn son. His father gave it to him, and now what?" He slammed it into Elena's hand.

Elena stared down at the object as Jeremy sat back down. "And he was going to give it to you."

"Yeah."

Elena walked back towards the bathroom, but turned around. "Look, Jeremy, it's still yours, okay? Mom promised Mrs. Lockwood. What do you want me to do?"

"Just take it and get out."

I stayed there for a moment, unmoving.

"Both of you," he snapped at me, hurrying me from his room.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Back at the boarding house, Damon was still staring at himself in the mirror; he had his shirt buttoned up and was pulling on his jacket. "It's cool not growing old," he said to his brother. "I like being the eternal stud."

"Yes, being a 150-year old teenager has been the height of my happiness." Stefan took a drink of his alcohol.

Damon laughed dryly. "You cracked a funny, Stefan." He eyed the liquor that his brother was drowning. "I should have a drink to celebrate."

He walked over to far window where tumblers were set up with different types of drinks. Sitting there on a book was the photograph from 1864; it had Emma, Savannah, and Katherine printed on it.

Damon looked down at it with a sad smile. "1864. You and Savannah were the _perfect_ couple."

"My happiness was short-lived, as you well know."

Damon turned around. "I remember. I left the party early with Emma." He tilted his glass at Stefan. "Here's to history repeating itself." He was going to take a drink from it, but let the amber liquid fall inches from his lips. "I admire your effort, Stefan. Pouring yourself a drink then spiking the bottle with vervain. I'm not some drunk sorority chick. You can't roofie me. But I can't help but feel a little used. I thought we were having a moment." He fixed his sleeves, and sighed, "Now I have to go to the party angry. Who knows what I'll do?"

Stefan watched in defeat as his brother left the room.

**WREN'S POV**

Carter and I arrived before everyone else just as guests started filing in. Tessa was waiting up for Stefan back at the house and Elena was waiting for Aaron. Both of us shook Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood's hands before stepping over the threshold and marveling at the mansion. It was the first time I'd ever been inside one.

"Wow," I said in fascination.

"Yeah," Carter said.

I turned my head towards her and we both giggled. We then started walking around the mansion, meeting other Founding family members and trying our hardest to fit in.

That's when Mrs. Lockwood found us. She came towards us and held out her empty hand. "Carter Harraway and Wren Bardell. I'm Mrs. Lockwood." We shook her hand and looked at her with confused expressions.

Carter was the first to speak. "You know us?"

"Oh, I knew your families. I'm so sorry about your loss, Wren. I know it's been a year, but your mother and I used to be very close at one time."

I didn't know what to say to that. My parents in this dimension died? That...what? I was confused, and it showed.

Mrs. Lockwood shared a sad smile. "And, Carter, your father? How is he, by the way?"

Carter opened her mouth, but closed it, trying to find her voice.

"Um, thanks for talking with us, but I just remembered we have something to do." I jutted my thumb out in the opposite direction, grabbing Carter's wrist. "We'll talk to you later?"

Before Mrs. Lockwood could protest, I dragged Carter away. She still was in shock, some sort of fear etched into her features.

"What was that?" I asked her once we came up to a bar that a bartender was serving drinks behind.

Carter shook her head, gulping. "I don't know."

"So, we now know that we had parents here. Mine...died...your dad...is God knows where." I stopped talking. I really had no idea what I was saying. I turned to the bartender and ordered a scotch, something I would usually cringe at. But I need it to take away what I had just learned._  
><em>

**TESSA'S POV**

It was finally getting darker outside by the time Wren and I made it to the heritage room. It was where everything about every Founding family remained for the night. We looked over the Gilbert things before setting our eyes on Lockwood's.

There was a picture on the wall that had Mayor Lockwood and Carol Lockwood seated in it, with a bunch of other people. Amongst them were two familiar faces, ones Wren and I knew all too well.

"Wren?" I nudged her with my elbow, making her look at the photo. "Is that Mom and Dad?"

Wren looked at it and frowned. "Yeah, it's a long story."

I turned on her. "What do you mean?"

Wren glanced around the room to make sure nobody was listening in. "Earlier today, Mrs. Lockwood found Carter and I. She started talking about how she was sorry about our loss. Apparently, Mom and Dad died a year ago. She asked about Carter's Dad, but we didn't stick around after that."

I felt a tear fall down my cheek, which I wiped away quickly. "What? That's crazy. Did she...did she mention how they...died?"

"Nope. She just said that." Wren's voice died down when I felt a hand graze my back.

"Your parents?" Stefan asked from beside me.

I was startled, but shook that away. "Yeah."

Wren slid down the line until she was in front of another picture. Only, it wasn't a picture. "'The Founding Families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural Founder's Council celebration.'" I looked at it with her, knowing what was coming next. "It's the original registry; Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood..." she stopped talking, shaking her head at Stefan and Damon's names. "Damon Salvatore? And, Stefan Salvatore?"

Stefan wasn't comfortable, and I could tell by the way he was awkwardly looking away from the framed item.

Damon's voice filled our ears. "The original Salvatore brothers." We all turned our heads to see him walking towards us with Caroline by his side. "Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually."

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past," Stefan dismissed.

"No, it's not boring," I told him. "I would actually love to find out more about you guys."

Stefan faked a smile, and Damon looked between the two of us.

"Well, I'm bored," Caroline said. "And Damon won't dance with me."

Damon shook his head. "Mm-mm."

"Could I just borrow your date?" Caroline asked me, motioning towards Stefan.

"Oh, uh..."

"I don't really dance," Stefan told her.

"Oh, sure he does," Damon said. "You should see him; Waltz, the Jitterbug, the Moonwalk. He does it all."

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Tessa?"

I would. But for the sake of being nice, "I don't mind. It's up to Stefan."

Caroline reached over, grabbing Stefan's hand. "Well, sorry. But I'm not taking no for an answer."

All three of us kept our eyes on them as they disappeared down the hall. "And on that note, I'm going to go find Elena." I took off through the door and down the hall, leaving Wren alone with Damon.

**WREN'S POV**

_Thanks, sis. You're great. _I really didn't want to be stuck alone with Damon.

"I want to apologize to you," Damon said after we were alone, "for being such a world-class jerk the other night when I tried to kiss you. There's no excuse."

I rolled my eyes.

"My therapist says I'm acting out, trying to punish Stefan."

"For what?"

"It's all in the past. I don't even want to bring it up. Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers." He pointed back at the registry.

Uh-huh. I bet.

"The Salvatore name is practically royalty to this town. Until the war, there was a battle here-"

"The Battle of Willow Creek," I finished.

"Right."

"I know, we talked about it in class." My voice was emotionless. "Confederate sodliers fired on the church with civilians inside."

"What the history books left out was the people that were killed. They weren't there by accident." He moved around me, a replica of the said church. "They were believed to be union sympathizers. So some of the Founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive."

I knew those sympathizers were vampires.

His voice lowered. "Stefan and Damon had people they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot, murdered in cold blood."

I was so tempted to come right out and say it was Emma and Savannah, but I kept my lips sealed. I mean, it wasn't like I didn't want to know. The noisy side of my wanted to learn about Damon and Stefan's old lovers who weren't Katherine. It was interesting, and kept me wondering. "Who was in the church that they wanted to save?"

"A woman, I guess."

I bit my lip to keep from telling him how sad that must've been.

"Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" He tilted his head, looking me over.

"Look, I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between you, but Tessa and I can't get in the middle of it, Damon." He looked at the ground. "I just...I hope you two can work it out."

He smiled. "I hope so too."

In that moment, I noticed how upset losing Emma made him. The way his eyes downcast at talking about her or brining up their past. It all made me think how much humanity was left in Damon.

Tessa returned minutes later, stealing me from Damon. I was going to make sure I told her about what I just learned.

**CARTER'S POV**

The night was starting to dwindle down, making it the perfect time for people to get out on the dance floor. Sadly, I came to the dance dateless. So, I was forced to sit back and relax at a table with Bonnie, watching as Elena danced with Aaron.

"They're cute, aren't they?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah." I didn't know why, but I always had a feeling that Aaron might've had eyes for me. "Yeah. I guess they are."

Bonnie stayed quiet for a long moment, not speaking. She just stared at the assortment of flowers in the middle of the table. Beside it was a candle; its fire was flickering and moving around because of the wind. Then, it went out.

Bonnie titled her head and stared at it. I didn't think about what she was doing until it lit up again out of nowhere.

"Did you just...?"

Bonnie blew it out, not wanting to know how that happened. "No. It's a faulty wick. It just comes and goes."

What a horrible liar.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Tessa caught up with Damon when she exited the mansion to get out on the dance floor. They didn't talk. Why would she want to? She hated Damon with every fiber of her being.

She spotted him standing with Caroline by a table filled with champagne glasses.

"What'd we miss?" Damon asked his brother."

Stefan held out a glass to his brother. "We were just chatting. Drink, Damon?"

Damon eyed the glass. "No, thanks. I'll pass."

Something passed between the brothers, and Tessa caught it instantly, the tension thick in the air. "Stefan?" she asked him, pulling his gaze towards her. "Do you have another dance in you?"

Stefan nodded and set the glass down. "Absolutely."

Tessa led him to the dance floor, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him flush against her body.

Damon and Caroline watched them. "They look so cute together," the blonde complimented.

"Don't talk, please," Damon chided, earning a glare from his date.

Stefan and Tessa swayed back and forth to the music, enjoying the feel of having each other there in their arms.

"I hope Damon didn't drive you too crazy," Stefan told her.

"Oh, no. I didn't stick around after you left. But I did hear from Wren that he was on good behavior, and he even apologized for making a move on her." She raked her brain, trying to remember what Wren had told her after talking with Damon. They were sisters, so they had to tell each other every ounce of information. "And he even explained why he is the way he is. And it all comes back to Savannah and Emma."

Stefan nodded, twirling Tessa around before pulling her back in. She gave him a sad look. "So tell me about her. What happened?"

Stefan continued dancing. "It's not something I like to talk about."

"I get that," she told him honestly. "I do. I just want you to know that you can. I mean, I burden you with all of my drama, and I want you to do that same."

Stefan nodded. "I know. Thank you."

Tessa just wanted the truth, and he wasn't giving it to her, which caused her heart to break. She wasn't going to wait around until he was ready. And she knows she sounds like a hypocrite given the fact that Wren, Carter, Aaron, and she have things that they should tell him, but they could never tell him _that_. It would screw everything up, and this, this wasn't screwing anything up. The more he waited, the more _she_waited, the more she wanted to push him away and tell him to get over her. "The truth is, Stefan...I don't really know that much about you, and I'd really love it if you would open up to me."

They stopped dancing. "Damon said something, didn't he? He likes to play games and cause trouble, Tessa."

Wren did tell her that Damon said something about Savannah, being the person Stefan loved. Like before, she told Tessa _everything_.

"This isn't about Damon, it's about me trying to get to know you. Look, you're the mystery guy, and I like that. But with mystery comes secrets, and this thing with Savannah."

"Let it go," Stefan said. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, then, say something about yourself. Anything. Otherwise, I'm left with nothing but what other people tell me."

"Don't you see what Damon has done here? He's trying to turn you against me."

Tessa scoffed. "Well, then I guess it's working." She dropped his hands and hurried past him, away from the dance.

**TESSA'S POV**

"This is my fault," Bonnie whined as we split a piece of cake between ourselves. "I'm a doubt planter. I planted doubt."

It really wasn't her fault. "It's not you're fault." I was just being stupid. Maybe if I keep my mouth closed I may end up being happy in the end. "I just...I feel terrible because I shouldn't have gotten in the middle of it, and then that's exactly what I did. Wren told me I shouldn't get in the middle of it and look what I did. I got all snotty."

Mrs. Lockwood came out of nowhere, sitting in the empty chair by the couch Bonnie and I were occupying. "Tessa, there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you. Since I couldn't find Elena, I figured you'd know. The pocket watch; I notice the watch still isn't in the collection."

"Oh, um, about that..." I remembered Elena giving it to Jeremy on our way out. "Sorry, we couldn't find it. Elena thinks it's still packed away in her parent's things."

"I see. Well, please make sure to let me know when you do find it."

I gave her a smile as she exited the room.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Damon snuck upstairs to the heritage room when he heard Caroline coming up behind him.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"Ah." He turned back and linked his arms in hers. "Looking for you."

He brought her to the room. "Your brother barely danced with me for five minutes-"

"Okay, just a minute." He placed his hands on her shoulders, turning her away so she couldn't see what he was doing. "Stand right...there."

Damon grabbed an old wooden box off of a display and laid it out underneath the light that came through the doorway. He opened it up and popped the side out of it, unveiling a amber colored crystal that was embroidered with metal around it.

"Um," Caroline complained, "you're not supposed to touch." She saw what he had. "What is that?"

"It's a very important crystal."

"Well, how did you know that it was there?"

Damon put the box back in its place. "Because I put it there."

"When?"

"A long time ago. Tonight, I'm taking it back, thanks to you." He grabbed her arm and tugged her outside the room.

"Well, what's it for?"

"Never you mind."

"You can't just steal it."

"It's not stealing if it's mine. Come on."

**CARTER'S POV**

"It looks like Jenna and Logan are hitting it off," I said to Aaron as we moved to the dining room where Mrs. Lockwood was scolding a waiter who forgot to light all of the candles in the room. There was a bunch. "I think they could've made it together if he didn't become a vampire and go crazy on Damon."

"So you aren't a fan of Jalaric?" Aaron asked when we stepped in.

"You finally get the concept of shipping! Congratulations." I faked excitement. "I am a huge fan of Jalaric, actually. I just think that if Tanner didn't die and everything else, Jenna and Logan could've been a cute couple."

Aaron looked at me for a beat too long.

"Why are you staring at me?" I asked, grinning.

"I just...forgot to tell you how beautiful you looked tonight."

"Aw," I said, stepping to him and fixing his tie that wasn't tightened. "You don't look too bad yourself, Aaron. I like you in a suit."

Mrs. Lockwood walked passed us after the waiter. "What a bitch," I mumbled after seeing the way she treated the waiter. "I'm so happy I don't have to work anymore. If I had to work for her..."

"You'd get like 30 dollars an hour and have enough to open up that art studio you always wanted," he finished for me, smirking.

"I was going to say go insane, but becoming rich does work too." I laughed and walked to the table, picking up a hors d'oeuvres and plopping it in my mouth. "By the way, where's your date?"

"Ah, she's off with Bonnie."

"I didn't really expect you and her to...you know...date."

Aaron waved me off. "It wasn't a date. I was just scared."

I pursed my lips. "Scared of what?"

"Being rejected by the person I really wanted to come with." Aaron played with a fork that was by a container of food.

"And who's that?"

Aaron gazed at me, my thoughts piecing the puzzle together.

My smile was gone. "Oh." Then he frowned. "Aaron, I mean, I wouldn't have rejected you."

"Yeah, yeah, you would. You'd think it's weird."

"No, I wouldn't. We'd come as friends. That's not weird."

Aaron looked sad. "You don't know, do you?"

I was speechless. I honestly had no clue what he was trying to tell me. "Know what?"

Without saying anything, Aaron tucked a stray curl behind my ear that I didn't know was in my face, his thumb caressing my cheek. "How much I'm in love with you." Then, without warning, he placed a kiss on my forehead. "And it's okay that you don't love me back." _  
><em>

My voice was barely a whisper. "Aaron."

He stepped away from me, his hand remaining behind my neck for a moment. He moved it away and I felt a tear fall from my eye. I didn't know why, but what just happened between us made me feel emotional.

Then, I felt the heat illuminating my skin, a sad smile tugging at the corner of Aaron's lips.

Around us, every single candle in the room was lit. And I knew it was Aaron's doing.

**TESSA'S POV**

I whisked Elena away from her chit-chat with Bonnie and took her into the bathroom. I was planning on filling her in on what happened between Stefan and I, but I couldn't when Caroline was standing there fixing her makeup.

"Hey," she greeted us.

I forced a smile. "Hey."

Caroline took a brush from her bag, looking at me. "So how are things with Stefan?"

"Great," I said, enough emotion in my voice to make it unbelievable. "Just great."

"Really? Well, my radar must be off 'cause I was getting all sorts of other vibes."

I looked at Elena, who was watching Caroline. "What is she talking about?"

"Nothing," I told her. "I'll fill you in later."

I turned back to the mirror and applied a coat of lip gloss from the one I got out of my clutch.

I felt Elena move around me until she was standing near Caroline. "What is that, Caroline?" She was looking at the bite mark that peeked out underneath her blue scarf. She tried to look at it, but Caroline swatted her friends hand away.

"Don't!" she exclaimed.

Finally, she managed to go in at the right moment to lift up the scarf to reveal a very deep and red bite mark. "Oh, my god, Caroline, what happened?"

Caroline shoved Elena's hand away. "Nothing, okay?"

"That is not nothing."

I found my voice. "She's right, Caroline."

"Yeah, did somebody hurt you?"

"No, okay, nothing. It just...my mom would kill me," she muttered as she fixed her lipstick.

Elena also found another bite mark underneath Caroline's knitted shawl. "Did Damon hurt you?"

Yes.

"No! Of course not!" Caroline scolded. Elena went back in to check on her, but Caroline refused to be babied. "Just leave me alone, okay, Elena? God!"

Caroline ran out of the bathroom, Elena following her out.

"Elena!" I screamed for her.

She was on a mission now, and I knew who her target was. I followed her out into the hallway and outside to the back of the house. Elena was standing there, her eyes scanning the place.

"Elena," I warned. I didn't want her to get hurt.

She didn't listen and charged at Damon, shoving him in the chest. "There is something seriously wrong with you! You stay away from Caroline or I will go straight for her mother, the sheriff, you got it?" She stood back. "Stay _away _from her."

Damon turned back to me, and I shook my head at him. "She's right. Stay away from her. In fact, stay away from all of us! That means Wren too."

I didn't stick around to hear what he was going to stay and ran off to the large pond that Stefan was standing in front of, watching the moon as it reflected off the water.

"I'm sorry," I rushed out. "I take it all back. You're completely right about Damon."

He was always right about him. I was just too blind to care.

"What did he do?"

"There are bruises and bite marks all over Caroline. And he has her brainwashed and all messed up in the head." He didn't look shocked, which I knew he wouldn't. "You don't look surprised."

"Um...I'm handling it."

"Handling it? Stefan, you need to do something about him pronto. Not just say you will. Take action, go to the sheriff if you have to." I was almost going to tell him to vervain him or stake him, but I knew that he was already going to do that.

"Tessa, please. I..." He grabbed my hand. "I don't expect you to understand."

Tears welled up in my eyes. "You're right. I don't understand anything, Stefan. I thought I did, but apparently I don't. So why don't you just clear it up for me?"

"Look, there are things that you don't know, okay? Things that I want to tell you, but I can't. And I may never be able to. And I just need you to trust me."

"Trust is earned. I can't just magically hand it over." I waited for him to speak, but his eyes remained on somewhere behind me.

"I'm so sorry. I have to go." He walked away. Actually ditched me. If I didn't feel shitty before, I definitely felt like it now.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Elena was walking along the large expanse of the Lockwood estate when she spotted Carline over by the pond. She was relieved to see her. "Caroline? There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you."

She walked closer to her friend who was shaking in freight. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Caroline sighed, placing her hand at her wound. "I'm fine." The tears were obvious in her voice.

"Caroline, what happened?"

Caroline was crying now, choking back her tears. "I'm fine," she sobbed.

"No, you're shaking. Caroline - what -"

"I'm fine."

"Caroline, come here, come here." Elena pulled her friend into a hug as the blond cried into her shoulder.

* * *

><p><em>I did what I had to do, <em>Stefan wrote after locking Damon up in the cellar. _To protect Tessa. To protect everyone. Yes, Damon. The headline read: 'Deadly Beast Captured. All is Well in Mystic Falls.'_

* * *

><p>After the gathering, the Founder's Council met up in Mayor Lockwood's office.<p>

"Thank you for staying so late," he told them as he entered the room.

Liz Forbes asked, "Did you get the Gilbert watch?"

"The girls claim it's packed away in their parent's things," Carol said.

Logan Fell took a seat beside Carol. "I can get it."

"Good," Liz said. "We're going to need it."

Mayor Lockwood looked at her. "Are you sure?"

"Five bodies all drained of blood? I'm certain."

Logan spoke up from his chair. "They've come back."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: And that concludes the forth episode of the Vampire Diaries! I'm very happy with all the feedback I've been getting, and I hope things aren't confusing as they can be when trying to figure out how to put Tessa in Elena's place. Keep on doing your thing, guys!

P.S. The links to the girls' dresses are on my profile if you'd like to check them out, and sorry in advance if the links have made my profile look a little messy.


	6. You're Undead to Me

**Disclaimer**: As much as I'd like to, I do not own The Vampire Diaries. But I do own the characters you see in the story and some of my own plot twists.

* * *

><p><em><strong><span>Chapter Five; Part One: "You're Undead to Me"<span>**_

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Stefan made his way into the cellar early in the morning to check on how his brother was doing. He looked through the iron bars to see Damon laying there; grunting in pain and sweat covering his body. Damon looked down at his hand, frowning.

"Where's my ring?" he asked through a strained voice.

"You won't be needing it anymore."

Damon groaned. "How long have I been here?"

"Three days."

"What are you doin'?"

"During the dark ages when a vampire's actions threatened to expose or bring harm upon the entire race, they would face judgement. They sought to reeducate them rather than punish them." Stefan's voice was cold and emotionless.

"You...know what will happen if I don't...feed on blood." Damon talked as if speaking would hurt him even more.

"You'll grow weaker and weaker, and eventually you won't be able to move or speak. In a week your skin will desiccate, and you'll mummify. A living corpse, unable to hurt anyone. Ever."

"So what, you're just going to leave me in the basement, forever?" Damon's voice morphed into annoyance rather than hurt.

"I've injected you with enough vervain to keep you weak. Once you're circulation stops, I'll move you to the family crypt, and then in 50 years, we can reevaluate."

Damon chuckled through the aching. "I'm stronger than you think."

"You always have been," Stefan said pointedly. "But you're not stronger than the vervain. And we both know it." He stepped back from the door, planning on leaving. "I'm sorry. Didn't have to be this way."

**TESSA'S POV**

The alarm clock went off, causing me to moan in my sleep. Could I just sleep in forever and never wake up again? Why did there have to be school and alarms? I opened up one eyes after the other, slowly regaining my surroundings.

I was in a unmade bed, the sheets near my feet and a pillow on the floor. Whenever I went to bed sad, I always woke up with a mess to clean up. It was natural.

As a ritual, I glanced at my phone on the bedside table, smiling sadly to see Stefan hadn't called again. Right then Elena burst through the door.

"Come on, breakfast's ready," she greeted.

I sighed, getting up out of bed and checking how I looked in the mirror across the room. I looked pale, and there were bags under my eyes. "Gross," I cringed.

Elena shook her head at me before walking out of the room and somewhere down the hall. When she returned, she looked mortified. "I just ran into Vicki."

I didn't understand what she meant, and decided not to say anything as I shooed her from the room to get ready for the day.

* * *

><p>After pulling on yoga pants, a t-shirt, and my sneakers, I was ready for the day. I put on a big, fake smile and walked into the kitchen with my eyes set on a huge stack of french toast and bacon on the island where Jenna sat and where she was talking to Elena.<p>

"He could be craftier about it; at least make an effort to sneak her in and out," Jenna said to her niece upon entering further into the room. They were talking about Vicki. "Morning, Tessa," she said when she saw me.

I grabbed a plate out of one of their cabinets and loaded it with a lot of food.

"Oh, and just so you girls know, I won't be home for dinner."

Elena grabbed a piece of bacon. "Oh, so you're actually going to do it. You're gonna go out with Logan." She took a bite and gave her aunt the green light.

"You shouldn't. I heard he's a total jackass." I pulled my hair into a bun behind my head, taking a quick bite of food. "Men. A total waste of my time."

"I'm going to show up and torture him, yes." Jenna eyed me for a moment. "And have you heard from Stefan?"

I got on what I called my 'manly voice', trying to imitate Stefan. "Not since he left that very vague message three days ago: 'Hi, um, Tessa, I, um, I have something I have to do. I'll, uh, explain in a few days.'"

Jenna chuckled through her coffee. "Have you called him?"

"No. Not going to, either." I took a bite of my food, savoring every bite. "Did Wren make these?"

Elena nodded from beside me.

"And you're okay with everything?"

I slammed my fork down a little too hard. "No, I'm not okay with it. But I'm not going to sit around at cry about it, either. Honestly, I'm not going to be one of those pathetic girls whose world stopes turning because of some guy." I shoveled another forkful of food into my mouth. "I'll be fine."

Jenna glanced at Elena, who I could tell was forcing back a laugh. "Okay then."

**THIRD PERSON POV**

"He's awake," Stefan said when entering the kitchen where Zach was. "He's weak, but it's probably best to stay out of the basement. He's Damon, not sure how dangerous he still might be." He turned around with his bag swung over his shoulder.

"You're going to school?" Zach asked, baffled.

Stefan turned back around. "Came here to live a life. It's about time I get back to that. And Tessa, if she's still speaking to me."

"Why haven't you called her?"

"What am I supposed to do, feed her another lie? I hate lying to her, Zach. I'm not good at it. She already thinks I'm hiding something."

"What choice do you have? You came back here because you want to live as normal a life as you could. You knew this was going to be part of it."

Stefan fixed the strap on his bag, unable to care about what Zach was telling him.

**CARTER'S POV**

"So, when are you ever going to tell me what happened between you and Aaron?" Wren asked me as we walked towards her locker. She opened it up and removed her books from their confinements, placing them into her arms.

"Why?" I asked, turning to her with wide eyes. "Did you hear something?"

Wren shook her head, forcing back laughter. "No. It's just that things seemed tense between you two at the Grill last night."

"Well, nothing happened."

Wren didn't believe me, which made me deflate and slouch my shoulders.

"Okay, he confessed his love for me and kissed me on the forehead."

Wren flashed a million watt smile. "No way! He finally did it!"

I squinted my eyes, waiting for her to continue.

"He told you he loved you. That's something he's been trying to do for the past couple of years."

I shook my head. "But I'm not in love with him...I can't be."

Wren shut her locker just as Bonnie and Elena were closing in on us. "Why can't you?"

I didn't say anything as the two girls greeted us. They didn't look too happy, however, by the way they glared at the blonde coming from down the hall.

"The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow," Caroline announced, handing flyers to people as she passed by. "The football team and band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who can pull off a bikini. I want in-your-face sexy. I mean, it's a fundraiser, for God sake."

"Unbelievable," Elena said, turning back to us. "It's like nothing even happened."

"She's in denial," Bonnie replied while keeping her eyes on her friend.

Tessa made an appearance at that moment, slouching against the lockers with a frown on her face.

"Hey," Bonnie said. "How are you?"

Tessa scowled at her, causing Bonnie to shrink back.

"She's fine," I told her.

"Okay, well, I just remembered I have a paper due so I can't be late for class. I'll see you guys later?" she asked, walking away as we all bid her a goodbye.

When we turned back, Stefan was standing behind me, looking at Tessa, who became aware of his appearance by the way she stood up, trying to look happy instead of upset.

"Wren?" I questioned. "Will you walk me to my locker?"

She nodded her head, hugged her sister, and disappeared down the hall with me. Elena following in tow.

**TESSA'S POV**

"Hey," Stefan said to me, "I'm so sorry I haven't called."

I didn't know what to say. He just showed up out of the blue. Why couldn't I have had enough time to think about this? "No worries." I forced a smile. "I'll live."

"I was dealing with Damon."

"And did you?...Deal with Damon?"

"Yes...Yeah."

I titled my head at him, not believing him. "For four days?" I wished he would've just staked him or something instead of keep him locked up in his basement. Everyone knew I was anti-Damon.

"You have every right to be upset with me, but can I explain it all to you, please?"

"Sure. When?"

"I gotta be home after school, but the Grill, around 4 o'clock?"

I slowly nodded my head, thinking about how I shouldn't be saying what I was about to. "Okay."

"Thanks."

"Stefan?" Caroline said suddenly from beside me. "Where's Damon? He has some serious apologizing to do."

"He's gone, Caroline."

Caroline stiffened. "When's he coming back?"

Stefan was emotionless. "He's not coming back. I'm sorry." Then he stalked off.

Turning towards Caroline, I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "This is a good think, Caroline."

"I know that." But by the look on her face, I could tell that she didn't.

* * *

><p>I arrived at the Grill fifteen minutes before Stefan was going to arrive. So, I weaved my way through the crowd of people until I made it to the pole table, where I saw Aaron and a bunch of his friends hanging out when I walked in. I might as well pass the time, right?<p>

"Hey, Aaron," I said to him. "Have you seen Stefan anywhere?"

Aaron turned around, sipping on a drink. "Nope. Why? You meeting him today?"

"Sadly, yes."

Aaron gave me that disapproving stare. "You know how stupid you are? The douche isn't honest with you and you want to talk it out?"

I sighed. "Yeah. I just love him, Aaron. Surely you know what it's like to love someone so much that you'd do anything to make amends."

Aaron shifted uncomfortably under my gaze. "Yeah, about that." He turned around, hitting the white ball on the table. "Have you talked to Carter lately about...us?"

"I saw her at school earlier, but she didn't tell me anything. Why? What happened between you two?"

"We...Well, I, told her I loved her." He turned back to me, leaning on the pole stick.

I lit up. "Oh my God! You did? What'd she say?"

"Nothing, really," he shrugged.

"Oh." I felt bad for him. Pining over a girl for the past few years, only to be rejected, must've hurt. "I'm sure she'll come around. She's probably taken off guard over the fact that her best friend's in love with her."

"I don't know about that."

"Well, I'm going to go wait for Stefan." I walked away when he called out for me.

"You can play a round, can't you?" I glanced at him, crossing my arms. "I mean, you aren't good. But you aren't too bad either." He handed me the pole stick, waiting for my decision.

**AARON'S POV**

"I'm just...I just want answers, you know?" Tessa asked me, hitting a white ball that hit a red one. "I know enough about him already. I just want him to talk to me, tell me these things so he knows that I know. It'd be weird to tell him I knew he was a..." she looked around cautiously. "...vampire already."

I ran a hand through my hair. "I know what you mean, 'Tess. We don't know anything about him. Well, you do. I don't."

"Yeah, but I have a feeling that I actually know nothing. Stefan and Damon were supposed to be in love with Katherine, but they were in love with seperate people - Emma and Savannah - Katherine's sisters. It's like ever since Wren and I got here, things have changed. And hopefully for the better, not the worse."

"Are you going to do some digging?" I positioned myself behind the pole stick, hitting the white ball.

Tessa sighed. "Elena does in one of the episodes coming up. I don't know if I should do that, though. I mean, he'll come around, right?"

"I don't think so, Tessa. Telling someone you're a vampire is pretty big. Maybe you should confront him, asking him what he is or something like that."

Tessa's phone vibrated. She took it from her pocket and looked at it.

"How late is he?"

Tessa glanced back up at me. "Hitting the hour mark. But I'm not going to freak over it." She took another hit. "But what do you think of Stefan? Besides him being a...douche, was it?"

"Well, besides that, I think he's great at football, a little bit of the loner type, and...honestly...is probably a good guy for you. If he stops being secretive and starts being honest with you."

"So, what should I do then?"

"Just talk to him."

"Talk to who?" Stefan was a few feet away from me, listening into our conversation. Both of us laid our eyes on him. "I'm so sorry that I'm late."

Tessa glanced at me for a quick moment. "What happened?"

"I got held up."

"Is everything okay?"

"There was this thing with my uncle."

"And you couldn't call and tell me that you were going to be an hour late?"

"Okay," I said, putting my pole stick onto the table. "You two have fun. And Tessa, if you need me, I'll be over there."

**TESSA'S POV**

I watched Aaron walk away from us towards the bar, leaving me alone with Stefan. Right now, I was just ready to explode in Stefan's face.

"I'm really sorry," he apologized. "It was unavoidable."

"What was unavoidable?" I asked, hoping to get an actual answer.

Stefan glanced at the ground, dodging the question.

I scoffed. "Okay." I slammed my pole stick down onto the table, moving around Stefan.

He grabbed for my hand, which I easily slipped out from his grasp. "Look, Stefan, all I'm getting from you is lies. That's it. Until you can be honest with me - don't touch me, don't talk to me, and as a matter of fact, don't even bother thinking about me." I stormed out of the establishment, brushing shoulders with Carter.

**CARTER'S POV**

I ran inside of the Grill after seeing Tessa rush out of there looking angry and upset. When I saw Stefan, I knew something had happened between them.

"What happened?" I asked him, crossing my arms in defense. "Did you do something?"

"I screwed up, Carter. I need to make it up to her."

"Need to make what up to her?"

"For not being honest with her."

I licked my lips, thinking. "Well, you could make her dinner. Baked ziti is her favorite. I'd recommend using that. I mean, it worked all the other times."

Stefan looked at me, confused.

"She's has a track record of real asshole boyfriends. They always seem to come to me with some sort of solution on how to win her back. Dinner works."

Stefan nodded.

"Oh, and she loves blue daisies. Flowers are her weakness."

He took that all in and I could see him making mental notes as I spoke.

That's when an older voice came into the mix. "I know you." I turned around, looking at the dark skinned man with a greying beard. "My God."

"I'm sorry?" Stefan asked.

"I know you," the man said. "How can it be?'

"I think you have the wrong person, sir."

"You haven't aged a day."

I rememberd this scene from the show.

"Uh, can we talk later?" Stefan asked me. "I'll meet you at Elena's."

I nodded towards him and walked away, keeping my eyes on the older man the whole time.

**TESSA'S POV**

By nightfall, I was curled up in a big ball underneath the blankets in Elena's spare bedroom. I kept from crying, biting my lip as I did so. I wouldn't cry for him.

I heard the door creek open and the light sound of footsteps shufflilng towards the bed. "Hey," I heard Carter say. "You okay?"

"I don't know."

I heard Carter chuckle. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm miserable," I said into my pillow.

"Well, you should go get something to eat."

My stomch growled, but I resisted.

"Come on, Tessa." Carter tugged at the blanket that was overtop of me. "Tessa."

"No!" I said, pulling the blanket tighter against me.

"Tessa Louise, if you don't get up and go downstairs, I will pull you from this room take you there myself. And you know I will."

I glared at her from over the covers, her mouth set in a firm line, knowing that what she was saying was true. I pushed myself up onto my feet after peeling back the blankets, standing there in my bummy clothes.

"Tessa, come on." Carter grabbed my wrist and walked me out of the room and down the stairs. When we got there, Wren was standing there, looking like she was ready to make an exit. Carter pushed me further towards the sliding doors that led into the kitchen. "Have fun." Without another word, both girls left the house.

I sucked in a breath and pushed the sliding doors apart, stepping inside to see a surprise waiting for me. "Stefan? What are you doing here?"

"Dinner," he said. "Carter told me that baked ziti is one of your favorites, and I happen to be a good cook." He was chopping up something on the cutting board, totally mezmerizing me. "The Italian roots demand it." He pointed at the white stuff on the board. "I can even make my own homemade mozzarella. Only tonight, it is unfortunatley store-bought. Sorry."

"Stefan...this is..." Wonderful, amazing, perfect - all of these words I could use to describe this. But I couldn't form words. All I could do is watch him.

He looked at me for a split second. "You wanted to know me better, right?" I nodded. "Well, I figured if you're going to dump me, you should at least, um, know who you're dumping. So let's start with Savannah."

"Stefan..." He didn't need to bring her up during our dinner date.

"She was...the most beautiful girl that I had ever met. She had this perfect olive skin, and these freckles. And she had this laugh, it was ridiculous. I mean, her laugh made you laugh. And she was fun, sweet, and kind. She was much more different than her sisters."

I watched him cut the mozzerella, wondering. "And Emma? What about her?"

"She was exactly like Savannah, but meaner and tougher, a real rule breaker that Damon liked seeing in girls. She was Savannah's twin, but acted more like Katherine at times. Sometimes you'd see Emma being selfless and kind, and other times not so much. She was a very moody person. We were friends, but I guess I never did get to know her that well as I did with Savannah. What I do know, is that I did some things that...I'm not proud of," he sighed. "And my biggest regret is not being able to make it right before Savannah died. I miss her, but I'm no longer crippled by her loss. Damon, though, misses Emma very much. He loved her, a lot."

I wanted to cry. Everything he was telling me was a real tear-jerker. Savannah sounded like an amazing person, and Emma sounded like the perfect one for Damon. It was sad hearing how they were torn apart.

* * *

><p>"I'm an avid reader. A huge Fitzgerald fan. The 'Great Gatsby', his masterpiece. But I'm no snob. I love some good Grisham," Stefan gushed as I helped him make the rest of the dinner. "I think 'Seinfeld' is the best American television show for the past 50 years, but 'I Love Lucy' is all time. The loving cup episode was the best, I think. Huge Scorsese fan. I can watch 'Taxi Driver' over and over again."<p>

I loved hearing about Stefan's likes and dislikes, it was refreshing. "Here, let me," I offered, taking over cutting.

"As far as music, it's pretty much across the board. Um, Dylan, Hendrix, Patsy, Willie. Oh, Kanye. You know what, I even like that one Miley song."

I laughed.

"Easy," he chuckled.

"I didn't say anything," I said. "Hey, this is for the garlic bread, right? Because I'm not eating garlic unless you agree to, too."

He smiled. "Are you kidding? I love garlic."

I was so busy gazing at him when I cut my finger on the knife. "Ahh..."

"You okay?" Stefan asked from the fridge.

"Um..." Uh-oh, here I was in an empty house with a vampire when I just cut my finger. "Yeah, I think so." I grabbed a towel and ran my hand under some cold water to get rid of the blood. From the reflection in the window, I saw Stefan's eyes turn red and the veins around them pop out. I switched the water off and turned to him. "Your face."

"I think I got something in my eye." His back was toward me now, and I knew he was trying to control the blood lust. Then he turned back around, looking normal.

I laughed. "I think that my paranoia has turned into full-blown hallucinations."

"Part of your charm," Stefan said, easing the tension.

I smiled and stared at him for a few moments, tilting my head towards his. He welcomed me, kissing me softly at first, then kissing me again with more roughness.

I missed this.

**WREN'S POV**

"It's really nice what you did for Stefan," Aaron told Carter from across the table.

We were sitting in the Grill, remeniscing about our past and just talking about the most random things. It was like old times, something I missed more than anything.

"What are you smiling about?" Carter asked through the straw between her teeth.

"It's just great to do this again," I said simply.

"We did this yesterday, only with Tessa," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's nice doing it again this week. Ever since we got here, we haven't been hanging out like we used to. Amongst the supernatural drama, this is the close to normal we might ever get."

I saw Carter agree with a nod of her head, and Aaron flash me a small smile. I was being abnormally positive during these dramatic days.

Aaron took a sip of his drink, placing it down gently. "I've been meaning to talk to you guys."

Carter and I leaned forward, stricken to know more.

"I've been having these dreams. They're about this darness that...consumes the both of you, and Tessa. It's been on a constant replay. I even saw..." he glanced at Carter nervously. "...Rachel."

Rachel was Carter's older sister who ran away when Carter was only ten years old. Rachel was thirteen. Everyone started a search party in order to find her, but they came up empty handed after two years of searching.

Carter looked at him as if he insulted her. "No, you couldn't have."

"But she looked older, like she would if she was standing here with us right now. I don't know how, but I saw her."

"How do you know it was Rachel and not someone else?" I asked, seemingly intriuged.

"Because, she looked a lot like Carter, and she introduced herself as Rachel Carraway to someone in my dream."

"Do you...do you think it's a sign?" I heard Carter asked.

All Aaron did was shrug, keeping both me and Carter in suspense.

**TESSA'S POV**

I sat beside Caroline at the table out in front of the sexy suds carwash, listening to her as she went thorugh the rules.

"No discounts. No freebies. No pay ya' laters. We are not running a charity here," she said strickly.

"Okay," I told her, glancing up as Stefan came towards us.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Hey, Stefan!" I jumped out of my seat and gave him a quick hug.

Caroline rised from her chair. "The even is called sexy suds, you know." She was talking about his t-shirt and black sweatshirt.

When she was gone, Stefan chuckled. "Did we just get scolded?"

"And judged, yeah. So, I guess you're gonna have to take that off," I said, motioning to his shirt.

"I think you have to go first."

"Okay." I was wearing a t-shirt over my swimsuit top, and took it off to reveal my purple strapless fringe top. I got my head stuck in the collar. "Nope. So not sexy."

Stefan took it off and cradled my face between his hands. "I disagree." Then placed a kiss onto my lips.

**WREN'S POV**

Watching from a car, I saw Tessa giggling with Stefan, and I sighed at their cuteness.

"Look at you," Elena said, walking up to me with a giant soapy sponge in her hand.

I think she meant my swimsuit. I glanced down at my red one-piece with a cutout design on it. Caroline scolded me when I got here, saying it wasn't 'sexy enough' for the event. But you could see everything I had to offer if it wasn't for the jean shorts I was wearing.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Elena," I complimented, glancing at her blue bikini top.

Elena began washing down the car as I held the hose, my thumb over the opening to keep it from going everywhere. "So, have you heard from Damon?"

"What makes you think I keep tabs on Damon?"

Elena shrugged. "I don't know, it's just that I got a vibe that you liked him. Like liked him-liked him."

I grinned. "Well, I'm not going to deny that he's...attractive."

"But do you want to be with him?"

"Where's all this coming from?"

"I'm just curious. I think it he wasn't a psychopath, he'd be a decent guy."

I shook my head. "He's hardly a psychopath."

"Hmm, I beg to differ." Elena dropped the sponge into a large bucket. "I'm going to go see if we can get more towels."

I watched her walk away as I sprayed down the vehicle.

**CARTER'S POV**

Elena rushed up to Caroline and I, where we were holding the money, and asked, "Caroline, can you run inside and grab some more towels and thos shimy things?"

"Mhmm, mind the money." Caroline handed me a small stack of bills and left her seat, which Elena sat down in.

"Hey, Carter."

"Hey, Elena."

"How's Aaron?" she asked.

"Fine, I guess." I counted the money and placed it inside the cash carrier.

"Oh. It's just that he hasn't been answering my calls so I've been wondering how he's been."

"Aaron is a-okay," I reassured her.

A pause passed between us. "Do you think he likes me?"

Oh, man, I didn't know what to say. "Uh, yeah. He really likes you, trust me. He's just been very busy these past few days so he hasn't had time to maintain a relationship, I think."

Elena nodded when the same man I met at the Grill the day before walked up to the register.

"That'll be $20," I said.

"Okay." He handed me two tens.

"I saw you yesterday," I told him, placing his money inside the black money carrier. "You were talking to a friend of mine. At the Grill?"

"Well, I-I thought he was somebody I knew."

I leaned my chin in my hands. "Stefan Salvatore?"

"Nah, it can't be. It's just my mind playing tricks on me."

Elena glanced between us. "Where do you think you'd seen him before?"

"When I first moved here, I stayed at the Salvatore boarding house."

"Oh," we said in unison.

"Stefan was just passing through to visit his uncle. I mean, none of us knew he was even here until the attack."

Elena was the first to ask, "The attack?"

"His uncle got killed. Mauled by an animal in the woods."

"His uncle, Zach?"

The man shook his head. "Mm-mm. Joseph."

"I'm sorry, sir," I said. "I don't think we're familiar with the story."

"Oh, how could you? I mean, this happened years ago."

Thankfully, Tiki made herself known. "Grandpa, you gotta go. Mom wants you home, okay?"

"He wasn't bugging you was he, Carter? He's a little alzy-heimer."

"Uh, no. He was sweet." I got up from my chair and walked towards Tiki's grandfather. Elena followed me. "Excuse me, sir. Are you sure that the man you saw, that you knew, his name was Stefan Salvatore?"

"Yes. I remember his ring and his brother-"

"Damon?" I interrupted.

"Yeah. Stefan and Damon Salvatore."

Elena looked suprised and frightened. "When was this?"

He looked at her. "It was early June, 1953. Yeah. June, 1953."

* * *

><p>As the man walked off, Elena turned around with me, staring at Stefan and Tessa. They were having some sort of water war going on with the soap and spunges.<p>

"Do you ever get a weird feeling about him?" Elena asked. "You know, like something just isn't right about him or Damon?"

"No, not really. He seems normal." Lie.

"It's like every instict in my body is telling me to be careful."

I know what you mean, I wanted to say. I kept my mouth shut, though, knowing I shouldn't interfere with Elena's train of thought.

"Come on." Elena bid me to follow her off towards the picnic tables. Jenna was sitting in one of them. "Your car was done an hour ago."

"You're saying that out loud, why?"

Just then, Logan walked out of his van. "Hi, Elena, right? I think I met you once when you were nine." He shook my friend's hand before turning to me. "And...Carter Carraway? Wow, it's been a long time." He shook my hand too, earning a look of indifference from me.

"Your emotional maturity level when we were together," Jenna added.

"Ouch. Here I thought we were making progress."

"Is he enough in your good graces that I can ask for a favor?" Elena asked.

Logan looked at Jenna. "If I do her a favor, will I get back in your good graces?"

"Uh, a very reluctant maybe to both."

"Done. Wait. One condition. Dinner, tonight, your house."

"Fine. But you're eating leftovers."

"Ooh," Logan said with fake amusement. "What do you need?"

"Do you have access to old news stories, say, fifties?"

I knew where this was leading, and I didn't feel like being apart of it.

"Yeah, at the station. Between the archives and the internet, we pretty much have everything."

"I have this report way past due. It'd be a life saver." Lie, again.

"I'm heading there now," Logan offered. "Let's go."

He headed off to his van. "If anyone asks, you don't know where we went," Elena said to her aunt. "I don't want Caroline to know that we left." She turned around and grabbed her sweatshirt from a table and quickly glanced at Stefan before we left.

* * *

><p>"We digitized all our archives last year," Logan explained when he led us into the dim-lit room. "You can pull all the remote footage right up on screen." He held open the door for us, leading us into a room full of TV monitors and computers. "What are you exactly looking for?"<p>

"An incident from 1953," Elena said. "If it even happened-"

She was cut off by Logan's cell phone ringing.

"At the old Salvatore boarding house."

"Sorry, one second. Yeah? A fire?" He said to his phone. "All right, be right there. I gotta go. You believe there's actual news to cover in this town?" He put his phone away. "All right, use keywords to search the database. It's pretty easy to navigate. And Brady down in tech will help you guys out with anything you need."

"Okay."

"Alright." Logan walked towards the door, but turned around. "Oh, hey. Could you put in a good word for me with Jenna?"

Elena smiled. "You got it."

When he was gone I gritted my teeth. "Elena, this is really stupid. I wouldn't even do this."

"I know, Carter. I just want answers." She looked back at me. "Don't you?"

"Whatever, but it's on you if this gets screwed up somehow." I pulled up a chair beside her and watched as she began typing things in.

After a few errors here and there, Elena was finally able to pull up some answers after typing in 'Joseph Salvatore + animal attack'. It was a video; it was black and white, and fuzzy.

"_This is Franklin Fell reporting to you from the Salvatore boarding house, where a brutal animal attack has ended in tragedy. Okay, they're brinigng the bodies out._" The camera panned to a stretcher that had a body on top of it, covered in a white sheet. "_See if you can get closer._" It rolled past the camera men. "_Is that the nephew?_" Then the camera zoomed in on a teenage looking boy standing in the doorway of the Salvatore house. It was Stefan. Elena typed something else into the computer to zoom in on the video. We both stared at in in shock. Stefan then turned away from the camera and walked back inside.

The video left a shiver down my spine.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Stefan stood over a bloodied crow in the doorway of the house, bending down to look at it much more closely. He knew that Damon was left out.

"Zach!" He screamed, using his speed to flash down into the basement. There, laying with a snapped neck, was Zach. "Oh, no, Zach." Tears flooded his eyes.

* * *

><p>Elena was sitting at her vanity, writing in her diary. <em>Dear Diary, I'm not a believer. People are born, they grow old, and then they die. That's the world we live in. There's no magic, no mysticism, no immortality. There is nothing that defies rational thought. People are supposed to be who they say they are. And not lie or hide their true selves. It's not possible. I'm not a believer, I can't be. But how can I deny what's right in front of me? Someone who never grows old...never gets hurt...someone who changes in ways that can't be explained...girls bitten...bodies drained of blood...<em>

**CARTER'S POV**

"Are you ready for this?" I asked my two friends as we made our way up to the Salvatore boarding house door. I told them what I saw on the footage from earlier in the day, and knew that it was finally time to confront Stefan.

"Ready as we'll ever be," Wren said.

Then the door swung open out of nowhere; Stefan was standing there with watery eyes, a stake in his hands.

Tessa was the first to speak. Her voice was low and upset; fake fear in her voice. "What are you?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: As always, reviews/follows/favorites are much appriciated!


	7. Lost Girls

**Disclaimer**: As much as I'd like to, I do not own The Vampire Diaries. But I do own the characters you see in the story and some of my own plot twists.

* * *

><p><em><strong><span>Chapter Six; Part One: "Lost Girls"<span>**_

**THIRD PERSON POV****  
><strong>

**_Mystic Falls, 1864_**

Stefan stood in the doorway of the Salvatore home, watching as a large carriage pulled by black horses rode up to the front steps. He gulped nervously at the flash of beauty he saw through the window in the carriage. The Pierce sisters were staying with his family and he for the next few months. Story goes, the girls' family was stricken with a fire not too long ago, losing their parents and other relatives. And the Salvatore's were kind enough to allow the sisters to live with them temporarily.

One of the Salvatore's butlers placed a stepping stool in front of the carriage door, opening it up and lending a hand to help the ladies outside. The first woman that exited was beautiful. She had a cunning look in her eyes, a seductive smirk on her mouth as she held out a hand to Stefan, who had slowly made his descend down the stairs.

"Miss. Pierce," he greeted, placing a kiss onto her knuckles.

"Katherine," she said, ushering herself out of the way for her next sister.

This sister was equally beautiful. She had shoulder-length curls that accompained her high cheekbones. She held out a hand. "I'm Emma Pierce. It's a pleasure, Mr. Salvatore." Stefan nodded his head, kissing her knuckles like every gentleman of the 1800s did.

Last, but certainly not least, was the final Pierce sister and Emma's said twin. She exited the carriage with much more grace than her sisters, keeping her skirts from getting dirty with her hands clutched at the hem of them. She was so concentrated that she stumbled over her own footing. Stefan reached out to grab her arm to keep her from falling over completely.

"Miss. Pierce, are you alright?" Stefan asked, keeping his eyes on the much more beautiful one of the sisters. Something in her eyes captivated him, leaving him in a daze.

She giggled, "I'm fine, Mr. Salvatore. But please, call me Savannah."

**TESSA'S POV**

_**Present**_

"_What are you?_" I asked, waiting impatiently for an answer. "Are you deaf? What are you?"

"You know."

"No...no, we don't."

"Yes, you do, or you wouldn't be here."

I saw a Wren shake her head out of the corner of my eye. "No, it can't be."

Stefan took a step towards us, placing the stake down somewhere outside the door. All of us girls took one step back, as if he was going to attack us at any given moment.

"Everything you guys know...and every belief that you have is about to change. Are you ready for that?"

I dodged the question, gritting my teeth. "Just tell me, Stefan."

He licked his lips. "I'm a vampire."

"We...we shouldn't have come," Carter said, tugging at my hand. "Let's go."

"No," Stefan said, shaking his head. But we were already darting for the car. "Please."

He flashed in front of us, that being the first time I've ever seen him do that. The three of us screeched. "How did you do that?" Wren asked fiercely.

"Please don't be afraid of me," he begged.

"Let us go."

"No, guys, there's thing you have to know and understand." He grabbed onto me and I forced him away. "Tessa, please!"

I jumped in the car just as Carter and Wren did.

* * *

><p>When we returned back to Elena's house, I ran upstairs and into my bedroom. Carter and Wren stayed downstairs, leaving me all alone upstairs.<p>

I paced back and forth, wondering what to do. As I did so, I shrugged off my denim jacket and felt another presence with me.

"Tessa," Stefan said.

I gasped and ran to the door, opening it, and coming so close to too, but he slammed it shut with a hand above my head. I put my forehead to the door, wishing to switch places with someone. Probably Aaron, seeing as though he's never around for big plot twists like these. He's lucky.

"I would never hurt you," Stefan soothed. "You're safe with me."

I found my voice amongst my heavy breathing. "All those animal attacks, those people who died..." I turned around to face him.

"No, that was Damon."

"Damon?" I knew it was him, but made sure to fake my shock the best I could. Wouldn't want to let him know that I didn't belong here.

"Yes. I don't drink human blood. That's not how I choose to survive, but Damon does. I'll explain everything to you, but I beg you, Tessa, do not tell anybody."

"How can you ask me that?"

"Because you knowing this is dangerous for so many reasons. You can hate me, but I need you to trust me."

I teared up. "Just go. Just go, please, go. If you mean me no harm, then you'll go."

Stefan stared at me for a long while. "I never wanted this." He pushed himself away from me, and I turned around with my hand on the doorknob. When I looked over my shoulder, he was gone.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Damon let go of the body, letting it fall from his lips with a thud. He wiped at the blood around his mouth, enjoying the feeling of finally feeding after the past few days being locked up.

He grabbed a bottle of alcohol from one of the bodies, pouting it all over his first victim. Then he walked towards another one, feeling for a phone to call Stefan with.

He found it with a smirk and poured alcohol over the next body.

"_Hello?_" Stefan asked through the phone.

Damon took a drink from the bottle, the liquor burning his throat. "I want my ring."

"_Where are you?_"

"I'm at the sizzler. I had the buffet. Where's my ring?" Damon grabbed a torch from on of the holders nearest to a tombstone, lighting the bodies as he passed them.

"_I don't have it. Where aer you? What have you done?_"

"No, what have _you _done? You're the one that locked me in the basement and starved me, so whatever I've done, whoever I've sucked dry is on you, buddy."

"_You're being careless. How many more animal attacks is this town gonna believe, huh?_"

"I know how to cover my tracks, Stefan. Where's my ring?"

"_I gave it to Zach to hide. Probably shouldn't have killed him._"

Damon laughed humorlessly. "Ah, you almost got me. Where is it?"

"_I'll get it back, but I need time._"

"What, did you FedEx it to Rome?" Damon asked jokingly. "Where is it? I want my ring, Stefan. Or my next stop is Tessa and Wren's."

"_I already want you dead,_" Stefan pointed out. "_Don't give me another reason to make it happen._"

"Don't give me another reason to rip you apart."

"_Yeah?_" Stefan challenged. "_Is that gonna be before or after you get your ring back?_"

Damon paused, sighing. "Just get it." He clicked his phone off and glanced at the bodies that now made one huge fire in the middle of the cemetary. Looking to his left, he saw another body that he forget to light on fire. He picked up the bottle of the remaining alcohol and strolled over to Vicki Donovan's coughing body.

Damon eyed her over, throwing the bottle to the side and kneeling down to her level. "You just don't want to die, do you?"

**WREN'S POV**

The next morning, I stood in the kitchen over the stove while Carter ranted on and on about the previous night.

"He stood out there all night," Carter said with a roll of her eyes. "He just doesn't give up, does he?"

I shook my head and placed another scoopful of pancake batter in the pan. "He just cares about us. I mean, Damon is out there rampaging right now. He wanted to make sure he didn't come and maul us to death."

"Oh, you'd enjoy it."

I scoffed just as Tessa walked into the kitchen. "Hey, Tessa. Pancakes?" I held out a stack of them towards her, which she dismissed with a shake of her head. "Alright, your loss."

"I'll have some. I don't have anywhere to be today." Carter grabbed a few and placed them on her plate. She looked at Tessa, who was already dressed for the day. Whereas we were still in our pajamas. "Where are you going?"

"To talk to Stefan."

"You want me to come?" I asked.

"It'd be nice, yeah."

"I'd go too, but I have some things to do today."

I looked at her. "Carter, what kind of things?"

"I'm just busy."

I didn't persist any longer and scooped the rest of the pancakes onto the plate. Then I went upstairs and got ready; pulling on jeans, a t-shirt, and my boots.

* * *

><p>"You said you would explain everything."<p>

Tessa and I sat across from Stefan in front of the Grill. We put frowns on our faces, trying to look as believable as possible.

"That's why we asked you to meet us here," Tessa continued to Stefan.

Stefan nodded.

"When you Google 'vampire', you get a world of fiction. What's the reality?"

"I can tell you whatever you want to know."

Tessa glanced at me.

I straightened up. "We know you eat garlic."

"Yes."

"And somehow sunlight's not an issue?"

Our waitress returned to our table with our drinks, handing them to us before hurrying off.

"We have rings to protect us," Stefan said, holding up his hand.

"Crucifixes?" Tessa asked.

"Decorative."

"Holy water?"

"Drinkable."

"Mirrors?"

"Myth."

I narrowed my eyes. "You said you don't kill to survive."

"Animal blood keeps me alive, but not as strong as Damon. It can be very powerful."

"And yet you let him get involved with Caroline?" Tessa asked.

"Forcing Damon not to do something is much more dangerous, believe me."

"He was hurting her," Tessa said with much more force to her voice.

"He was feeding on her, he was able to take her memories away of being bitten using a form of mind compulsion. She never knew what was happening to her. If he wanted to kill her, he would have."

"Is that supposed to make it okay?" my sister asked.

"No, no. None of this is okay, Tessa. I know that."

Something passed between my sister and Stefan, causing the two to lean back from their positions over the table.

"Are there any others aside from you and Damon?" I asked.

"Not in Mystic Falls, not anymore."

"Not anymore?"

"There was a time when this town was...very much aware of vampires. And it didn't end well for anybody. That's why it's important that you don't tell anyone."

Tessa and I looked at each other, as if sending our own little secret twin signal. "We can't promise that," I told him.

Stefan put his hands on the table, leaning forward. "Guys, just give me today. I will answer any questions that you have, and when it's over, you can decide for yourself what you want to do with what you know. It'll be your choice."

Tessa and I nodded our heads in agreement, and the whole time I was wondering what we were in for.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

The cemetery was covered with police officers and news reporters; on the scene to figure out what had went down the night before. Liz Forbes looked underneath one of the bodies that was covered with a yellow sheet, Logan Fell behind her.

"Never smelled one this bad before," Logan cringed at the body underneath the yellow sheet. He was holding a handkerchief to his nose to mask the smell.

"It tried to cover it's tracks," Liz stated.

Logan picked himself up from the dirty ground. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. You only burn a corpse to try to hide cause of death, and there were no shell casings."

Logan pointed towards the rest of the bodies scattered throughout the cemetery. "We know who they are?"

Liz shook her head. "Doc'll have to check their dental records."

"What story should I run?" Logan asked as they moved forward.

"Drug deal gone bad. It's not too big a stretch."

Logan nodded as he listened to her words. "I got the Gilbert watch," he mentioned.

Liz lightened up a bit. "Good."

An officer walked near them with a purse outstretched towards Liz' gloved hands. "Found this in the brush about ten yards away."

Liz rifled through it, grabbing something from the bottom of the bag. It was a green sequined wallet that contained a driver's license. "Vicki Donovan," Liz said in astonishment.

"You know her?" Logan asked, the officer to his right looking interested in the find.

"I went to high school with her mother."

"Think she's one of these?" Logan scanned the area.

Liz sighed, "I hope not."

* * *

><p>Damon walked through the boarding house with his phone to his ear, grabbing a bottle of alcohol from a tumbler as he passed by. "Where are you, Stefan? I'm trapped at the house, and I'm getting really bored and really impatient." He moved out from the sunlight that streamed through the windows. "And I don't do bored and impatient. Bring me my ring." He clicked his phone off as he poured himself a glass of scotch. "Damn it!"<p>

He threw his phone down on a table and looked at the sleeping girl on his couch. "Aw, don't get blood on the couch," he winced. "Please." She had a rag held tightly to her bloodied neck.

Damon walked over to the girl and sat down across from the couch, keeping his eyes on her wound. "I got you good, didn't I?" He removed the towel for a split second, listening to the girl groan in pain. "Well, you're not gonna be any fun today." He threw his drink back with a satisfied smile, watching the girl again. He turned around and shot up from his seat, moving until he was behind Vicki Donovan's body. "I'm so gonna regret this." He bit his wrist and placed it onto Vicki's lips, soothing her. "Okay, drink up." A few moments passed and Vicki clutched onto Damon's wrist like a vice grip, drowning his blood with with a moan.

* * *

><p>Tessa drove through the trees and foliage until Stefan told her to stop at their destination. They were sitting in the car in the middle of the large expanse of trees, and Tessa couldn't stop herself from marveling at the beauty of the place.<p>

Stefan exited the vehicle first, then Wren, and then Tessa, each one of them slamming the door behind them.

"So, what is this place?" Wren asked first, looking at the remaining parts of what used to be a building.

"Yeah." Tessa turned her head to Wren. "This is creepy."

Stefan was listening in on what they were saying, but kept his eyes on the area they stood in. "This used to be my home."

Tessa took a few more steps until she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Stefan. "This looks so..."

"Old?" Stefan finished. "It's because it is."

"Wait, so how long have you..." Tessa glanced at Stefan.

"I've been 17 years old since 1864."

"Holy shit," Wren said without much of a filter, trying her hardest to act suprirsed.

"So, I'm in love with a old man?" Tessa asked, earning a punch in the shoulder from her sister. "Ouch."

"Be nice."

Stefan chuckeld. "You said you wanted to know. I'm not gonna hold anything back." He turned his head away from us, glancing at more parts of what used to be a building. "Half century before the boarding house was even built, this was my family's home. Damon and I..." Tessa and Wren looked around nervously before following Stefan further across the forest floor. "...we were both born here. The Salvatore brothers, best of friends."

_**Mystic Falls, 1864**_

Damon took off out of the Salvatore home and into the front yard, a football in hand as Stefan chased behind him.

"Wait, where did you learn this game?" Stefan asked.

"Camp outside Atlanta," Damon told him, throwing the ball high in the air. "One of the officers picked it up at Harvard, catch!"

Stefan caught the ball with ease. "Wait a minute. Wait a minute." Damon was running for Stefan, trying to tackle him. "What are the rules? What are the rules?"

A few voices joined in on their screaming and laughter, they were female, and a real tune that the boys could get lost in. "Who needs rules?"

Damon and Stefan stopped running around, keeping their eyes on the two beauties standing at the doorway. It was Emma and Savannah Pierce; Emma was dressed in a beautiul green dress with a gold floral pattern, while Savannah sported a purple dress with white lace.

Emma glanced at Savannah before walking down the white steps slowly. "Mind if we join you?"

"Oh, Emma, I wouldn't want to get my skirts muddy. That'd be dreadful," Savannah bickered while following her fraternal twin.

"She's right, but you could get hurt," Stefan added with a smile towards Savannah. He then looked at Emma. "My brother likes to play rough."

Emma smirked in Damon's direction, obviously pleased with the older brother. "Something tells me that I play rougher."

Savannah watched in amusement as her sister snatched the ball out of Stefan's hands and took off in the direction of the family horses. Without another warning, the most girlier of the bunch ran in that way too, enjoying the look on Stefan's face as she did so.

Damon looked to his brother. "Why are we just standing here? Those are girls who clearly want to be chased."

Then, Damon ran for the girls, Stefan following him.

_**Present**_

"You loved Savannah, and Damon loved Emma?" Tessa mused. "What about Katherine?"

Stefan licked his lips. "Katherine was never interested in either of us. She was not there for romance, but for something different."

"Which was?" Wren asked.

"Nobody really knows except Katherine herself."

Wren shot a look at her sister, wondering how Katherine still fit into the story.

"She was their ring leader, and she never allowed either sister to become attatched to us. We may have loved them, but their love was never real."

Tessa raised a brow. "It wasn't?"

Stefan shook his head. "No, it wasn't. They compelled us to love them, toyed with our feelings. All because of Katherine."

"But I thought you said Savannah was kind?" _  
><em>

"She was, but that was all part of their little game."

Tessa felt bad for Stefan. She truly thought that they were actually in love with him and Damon. Maybe if it wasn't for Katherine, they would've loved them.

Stefan bent down and picked something up wrapped in cloth. He unveiled it, and it was Damon's daylight ring.

"Is that Damon's ring?" Wren asked.

Stefan nodded. "I took it from him, but i have to give it back."

"No," Tessa hurried. "Don't, Stefan. Keep it hidden."

"Tessa," Wren scolded.

"Tessa, if I don't give it to him, he'll retaliate in the only way that he knows he can hurt me."

Tessa frowned. "And how is that?"

"By hurting you."

**_Mystic Falls, 1864_**

Shooting right up in bed, Stefan gasped for breath, holding a hand to his bloody neck that had dried up over night. He glanced down at the crisp white sheets that had a large blotch of red that stained them.

"You're awake," a feminine voice said to his left. It was Savannah; she was getting her white corset tied up by her handmaiden Emily Bennett when she heard him awake. She pushed herself away from the mirror with a slouch in her shoulders, a fake smile on her face. "Good morning."

As she inched closer to the bed, Stefan moved back until his back hit the headboard of Savannah's bed. "Your face..." The night before had been hazy; all Stefan remembered was the heat between the two of them, and before it escalated, Savannah's face morphed into a demon-like appearance, no longer taking shape of her usual innocent, angelic look. Then she bit him. "You looked like a demon."

Savannah winced at the use of the word, sitting down carefully on the edge of the bed. "But you're not afraid?"

"Get away from me," he ordered.

Savannah shook her head, laughing lightly. "It doesn't change the way you feel about me, Stefan." She looked at him through her glassy eyes, water forming behind them, knowing what she had to do. "You will not tell anyone..."

"I-" Savannah placed a finger to his lips, keeping in from continuing on with his words.

"We will go on exactly as we have," she compelled through tears.

Stefan smiled out of nowhere. "Yes. We will go on."

Savannah shifted away from him after she used her compulsion, hearing the light sound of footsteps padding towards the open door. Katherine stood there, already dressed in a beautiful silk blue gown, her hair tied up in an up-do. "Ah, there you are, Savannah. Could we have a word in private?"

The younger sister bowed her head and bid Stefan a goodbye nod. "I'll see you at breakfast then, Stefan?" She pulled her nightgown over her corset and smiled at him.

Stefan nodded his head, and watched Savannah exit the room.

* * *

><p>Emma walked across the Salvatore's estate, taking in the all too familiar scenery as Damon chatted about his time in the war. She nodded at everything he said, never really interested in the first place.<p>

"Miss. Pierce?" Damon asked, stopping the girl at a halt. "Have I made you uncomfortable?"

"Oh, no, Mr. Salvatore," Emma said. "My thoughts are just all over the place today. My apologies."

"No apology needed, Miss. Pierce. We all have our days." He then led her towards their horses.

"Again, you may call me Emma," she giggled.

Damon smirked. "And again, you may call me Damon. I need no formalities when you're in my presence, Miss. Pier - Emma."

Emma didn't speak again until she was standing inside the stables. There were horse scattered about in their rightful places, and Damon went to one that was in the back corner, a beautiful grey horse with white spots.

"Is this your horse?" Emma asked, petting the animal with much interest. "He's beautiful."

"_She's _beautiful, yes. This is Eliza. She's been with us ever since..." Damon stopped himself, his eyes drooping in thought. "My mother's passing."

Emma removed her hand from the animal and moved closer to Damon. "I'm sorry for your loss, Damon. I know what it's like to lose a loved one, actually numerous loved ones." She smiled sadly and took a seat on a wooden bench by the entrance of the stables.

"Excuse me for prying, but the fire? What happened?"

Emma tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "It's alright for being curious; nothing really wrong with that." She stared ahead, looking away from Damon, fearing to make eye contact. "It was treacherous; a quilt made by my grandmother caught fired off a candle and..." she stopped speaking, biting her lip nervously, and trying to fight back tears. "I'm sorry."

"No, I shouldn't have asked in the first place. I'm the one who's sorry." Damon looked back at the horses, a smile playing on his lips. "Why don't we take the horses out for a ride? You can take Eliza."

Emma's tears were instantly diminished, a cheeky smile forming on her face.

**_Present_**

Mayor Lockwood stood over a open plank in the floorboards as Liz stood above him, keeping a close eye on what he was taking from underneath the floor.

"We're working on it, Mayor Lockwood," Liz said.

"Doc I.D the bodies?"

"A few townies. Notorious druggies."

There was a safe that Richard put the combination into, a loud squeaking coming from it. "I suppose that'll make it easy for people to buy the story. And Vicki Donovan?"

"She's not one of the deceased," she assured.

"Where the hell is she?" Richard asked forcefully.

"I wish I knew."

That's when Liz turned her head towards the footsteps that were approaching them. It was Logan. "Sorry I'm late.

"You have the watch?" Richard asked.

Logan nodded and pulled the gold metal from his pocket, opening it up for Mayor Lockwood to take apart. Richard took the watch part from inside and replaced it with something that resembled a compass. He clicked it in place and stood back up, a look of wonder coming to Liz' face.

"It's ready," Richard said.

"That's it?" Logan questioned.

"Yes," Richard stated. "That's it." He handed it back to the news reporter, smirking.

**CARTER'S POV**

My hair was pulled back from my head into a high ponytail, my fingers stained with paint and charcoal. From behind me, the scent of sage filled the air and the sound of Aaron's voice was the only thing you could hear. He was chanting a spell out of a spellbook he found at some store outside of Mystic Falls.

I finished with my paint and grabbed my graphite pencil, drawing in the same spot on the paper for a few moments before setting it down and smudging it with my fingers.

"That's like the fourth wolf you've drawn today," Aaron said. "And it's the same one as last time."

I rolled my eyes. "It's just been my muse lately, okay?"

"Why don't you draw...a vampire? Or me?"

I turned to him. "You know I hate drawing people."

"But you like drawing werewolves?"

I shook my head. "These aren't werewolves, Aaron."

He dropped the burning sage into a wooden bowl and picked up a drawing from behind him. "No wolf has amber colored eyes."

Scoffing, I yanked the paper from his hands. "Like you'd know. All you do is speak gibberish and play around with this." I motioned at the spell book. "Seriously, though, what are you trying to accomplish?"

"Who said I was trying to accomplish something?"

"You've been working on the same spell for six hours." I laid my drawing down and took his spell book from him, reading over the pages. "What is this anyway?" I read it over, realizing it wasn't in English. "And since when do you know Latin?"

Aaron took the book back. "Ever since I found out I was a warlock."

"That's not even a real spell book. It looks brand new. A real one would have age written all over it."

Aaron reached over and put the book back into his backpack. "Well, I don't know any ancestors of mine in this dimension, so I wouldn't know if there'd even be a Feldman family spell book-" He stopped talking, his hands still in his bag. "Wait a minute."

"What is it?"

He pulled a book from his bag, unlike the one he just had in his hands. It was ancient; the spine was almost falling apart, and the cover was peeling here and there. We both looked at it; wide eyes and gaping mouths.

"Aaron, what is that?" I asked firmer than before.

Aaron glanced at me before returning back to the cover. "I don't know."

Before I could tell him how ridiculous this was, we both heard the downstairs door slam shut and the sound of feet scuffling towards something. I sprinted towards the door and down the stairs, Aaron following, to find Vicki pulling food out of the fridge and stuffing her face.

"You're high, Vicki? It's the middle of the day," Jeremy chided.

"Could you not talk so loud?" Vicki stressed. "My head hurts. I need quiet."

Aaron looked at me nervously, and I knew exactly what was going on with her.

**TESSA'S POV**

I reached the car when I turned around, hearing Wren's car door already slam shut.

"The compulsion...the one you said Savannah used...did you ever...?"

"No," Stefan said. "That necklace." He pointed it out. "It contains a herb called vervain. It protects you from being compelled. I wanted to protect you from Damon's influence. But I also wanted to...protect you from me."

My brows knit together.

"Tessa, you should never take that necklace off...because no matter what happens after today, no matter how you feel about me...you'll know that you were free to make your own choice."

I kept my eyes on his back as he rounded the car and to the passenger seat, thinking the whole time of what choice I was bound to make.

**CARTER'S POV**

There was a loud knock at the door that I went to retrieve. Matt rushed into the house looking tense. "Where is she?"

Jeremy called Matt a little of a half an hour ago to tell him the state the Vicki was in. As tempting as it was, I couldn't bring myself to tell them that there really was no use worrying. Vicki was going to be fine. At least, not until Stefan came by.

"This way," I told him, leading him into the kitchen.

Vicki was sipping on a soda with a bunch of other munchies spread out around her. Matt suspected she was on something, but sadly, that wasn't the case.

Aaron was standing over by the fridge and Jeremy kneeled right beside her.

"What's she on?" Matt asked.

"We don't know."

Matt took a cautious stride towards his older sister, sitting down at her level across from her. He took her large sunglasses from her eyes. "Hey, Vic', how you doin'?"

Vicki groaned. "Not good, Mattie. I hurt."

"Okay, where's it hurt?"

Vicki brought her hand to her mouth. "My gums. My jaw hurts. My gum - there's something in my gums, and it hurts." Tears came from her eyes.

"Okay, well-" Matt reached out to grab her, but she flinched away.

"No. Just leave me alone."

"Come on, Vic', don't be like that. Let's get you home."

Vicki screamed, "Just turn it off!"

Jeremy looked around. "Turn what off?"

"The talking, the chatter, just turn it off!" Vicki removed herself from her spot of the floor and ran into the living room to a news broadcast on the television.

Logan Fell's voice was inaudible, which Aaron quickly got the remote and turned it up, seeing that this could be important. "Three bodies were found dead in what is believed to be a drug deal gone awry. The bodies have yet to be identified. They were discovered earlier today over at the old Mystic Falls Cemetery."

"That's where we were last night," Jeremy pointed out.

Vicki was in tears when Matt turned to her. "What happened, Vic'?"

She said nothing, and stared at the screen. "...now they're looking for suspects. They're asking anyone with information..."

"I'm calling the cops," Matt said.

"No, don't," Vicki pleaded.

"What happened after I left last night, Vic'?" Jeremy asked, in which Vicki shoved him into the back of the couch.

"Vicki, what the hell?" I screamed, going to Jeremy's side just as Matt did the same. "You okay?"

Jeremy shrugged us off. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Damn, Vic'," Matt said.

In that moment, I heard the door open up with a click and saw Stefan, Wren, Elena and Tessa walk into the living room.

Elena placed her keys onto the dining room table and walked into the room. "What's going on?"

Tessa and Wren put their bags down and looked at me for answers, Stefan glancing around the messy kitchen.

"She's really messed up," Matt told his ex.

Stefan pushed through the crowd gently. "Guys, back up." He put a hand to Vicki's neck. "Vicki, look at me. Focus. You're gonna be fine."

Vicki's demeanor changed. She was no longer tense, easing back into a peaceful stature. He must've compelled her.

"Guys, take her up to bed. Shut the blinds," Stefan ordered. "She's gonna be okay."

Elena, Matt, and Jeremy escorted her out of the kitchen.

I stood beside Wren, Tessa, and Aaron, staring at Stefan.

"Is she going to be okay?" Tessa asked.

"Yeah."

"What's wrong with her?" I was pretty sure Tessa already knew the answer to that one.

"She's transitioning." Then he realized Aaron and I were standing there. "Wait, I mean..."

I waved him off. "Don't worry about it," I smiled. "We know what's going on."

"You told them?" Stefan wasn't angry, more like a little annoyed.

"Well, of course," Wren said. "They're our best friends. And they do know how to keep a secret."

"Yeah, have a little faith in us," I teased.

Stefan shook his head at us. "She's transitioning into a vampire."

"How?" Aaron asked.

"Damon musty have gotten to her. She's new. She hasn't completed her transformation yet."

"And she does that...how, exactly?"

He sighed. "She has to feed on human blood, and if she doesn't, she'll die."

**TESSA'S POV**

"She may only have a few hours," Stefan said to us as he leaned up against the island. It has been a little over fifteen minutes since we'd walked in the door, and we were left to make a decision.

I was pacing back and forth. "She's up there with them right now..."

"She doesn't know what's happening to her yet," he reassured.

"So when is she going to know?"

"Right now, she doesn't remember anything. A part of her is still human. But slowly, the deeper she gets into the transition, the memories will start to come back. And then she'll know she has to make the choice."

Something came over me, and I turned to him from my stare between Carter. "The same choice you made?" it sounded harsh, much more than I wanted it to seem.

Elena walked into the kitchen with Matt at her side, looking at us with frowns.

Then, Matt screamed out for Vicki, who ran from the house and out of sight.

* * *

><p>It was nightfall, and there was still no word on Vicki or Stefan. He went off to track her earlier on. Now, we were just waiting.<p>

I cleared off the table with the help of Wren and Elena, who both seemed equally angered as I did.

"Maybe we should check in with Matt," Jeremy suggested from his place on the counter.

Elena handed him a plate. "He'll call when he finds her."

"Well, what are we supposed to do?"

"We wait," I said to him. "We're supposed to wait."

"I don't know what's wrong with her."

After handing him a bowl, I smiled sadly. "She'll be fine, Jeremy." I turned around. "It'll all be fine."

A loud _ding-dong_ sounded from the front door, and before I could stop him, Aaron walked towards it and opened it up, a flash of black standing behind it. "Aaron," I warned. He was trying to shut the door, but Damon used his vampire strength to keep the door opened. And before we knew it, the door was wide open, and there was a glint of mischief in Damon's cold blue eyes.

"Jeremy, Elena, go upstairs, please," I told them with force.

Elena looked like she was going to refuse, but Wren ushered her away.

"You're afraid of me," Damon observed.

Well, actually, I've always been afraid of him. But now, after getting the big old lecture on vampirism, I was more scared then ever.

I heard the sound of boots clicking against the steps, and I turned to see Carter descending from them. "What's going on?"

"Carter, we should probably go," Aaron started as he removed themselves from the situation at hand by going upstairs where Elena and Jeremy were.

Damon smirked knowingly. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess, Stefan finally fessed up."

"Stay away from us," I said.

"Hey, hey, hey, there's no need to be rude. I'm just looking for Stefan. May I come in?"

I felt Wren tense beside me.

"Oh wait," Damon said in fake acknowledgment. "Of course I can. I've been invited."

Wren and I stepped back when he stepped over the threshold and shut the door behind him. I grasped my sisters hand, feeling my palms start to sweat.

Damon looked around. "We can cut to the chase if you want. I'm not gonna kill you right now."

Wren scoffed. "Oh, how reassuring."

Damon smiled at her chillingly. "_That _wouldn't serve my greater agenda."

I could feel my pulse race.

"So...where's Stefan?"

I gulped. "He's out looking for Vicki."

"Don't look at me with those judgy little eyes - both of you." He stepped towards us. "Girl's gonna thank me for what I did to her."

His movements made both of us shrink against the bannister, my hand slipping from Wren's. He was staring her down instead of me, surprisingly.

"Did you thank Emma?" Wren asked through gritted teeth.

Damon's smirk faltered and his eyes roamed her body hungrily. "Mmm." He turned back to the living room. "Got the whole life story, huh?"

"We got enough," I spoke.

"Oh, I doubt that."

Wren shot me a look as Damon walked back to the door.

"Tell my brother I'm looking for him." He opened it up, but stopped. "Oh, tip for later. Be careful who you invite in the house."

Without another word, he shut the door, and we were finally able to breath again.

**THIRD PERSON POV**

Vicki was in tears by the time Stefan found her. She was curled up against a tombstone in the middle of the cemetery. All you could hear were her whimpers.

"Vicki," Stefan said.

She gasped when she saw him, keeping her guard up. "I'm starting to remember things," she said. "What he is, what he said. I remember you. The hospital. The-the rooftop. It's all coming back."

"I'm so sorry," he apologized. "Damon had no right to do this to you."

Vicki sucked in a breath. "He said that I need to feed. What will happen if I don't?"

"You'll fade quickly...and then it'll all just be over."

"I'll be dead." She summed it up nicely through her tears.

Stefan sat down in front of her. "Hey."

"I don't want this," she cried.

"I know. It'll be okay. You're gonna be okay. I can help you."

"Is it better?" she spoke louder. "Will it be better? Will I be better?"

Stefan didn't know what to say to that and instead glanced at the ground, giving Vicki the answer she needed without really saying anything.

She sobbed louder. "I want to go home. Will you take me home?"

Stefan nodded hurriedly. "Okay."

That's when the bullet went through Stefan's chest from behind the tombstone, the sound of a gunshot going off and echoing throughout the forest. He groaned and fell onto his back.

Vicki stood up slowly as Logan Fell marched towards Stefan with a stake in his hand, aiming it above the vampire's chest.

"No!" Vicki screeched.

It was good timing, because Damon showed up out of nowhere and sunk his teeth into the reporter's fleshy neck. He pushed the body away and got down to his brother, pulling the bullet from its confinements between his lungs.

From behind him, Vicki eyed the scene, her eyes darting between the brothers and Logan Fell's unconscious body.

"It's wood," Damon said after removing the piece from his brother. "They know." He wiped his hand against his mouth. "If anyone's gonna kill you, it's gonna be me. My ring."

Stefan forced his hand into his pocket and handed it to his brother. Just as Damon was sliding it back into place, Vicki was over Logan's body and was drinking his blood.

"No! Vicki!" Stefan screamed.

Vicki wiped the blood from her mouth. "I'm sorry." Then she disappeared into the forest.

"Oops," Damon said, getting up from the ground. He saw a glint of gold in Logan's hand and picked it up, rushing from the woods.

**TESSA'S POV**

I waited up for him. I had to. Vicki's life was at stake here and I couldn't just go right to bed like the others could. Not with my mind piled with tons of stuff that I could care less about.

I heard Stefan walking up the porch steps, the sight of blood on his blue button down caused me to jump up and walk towards him. "You're bleeding," I stated.

"No, it's okay. It's okay. I'm okay."

I held onto his hands as he pushed me away from him gently, my eyes scanning his.

"I couldn't stop her. I tried."

The waterworks were coming. Damn, why did I have to get so emotional? "What does that mean?"

"She fed. And then I lost her."

"Oh my God."

"I'll take care of it. I'll find her, and I will show her that she can live like I do. I will make sure that she does not hurt anybody, Tessa. I promise you."

"What do I tell Jeremy and Elena? Oh my God, and Matt?"

"We'll come up with a story."

"You mean we'll come up with a lie."

Stefan looked away from me. He knew I was right. "I'm so sorry."

That wasn't going to work this time. "I gave you today just like you asked." His frown deepened, and my eyes were watering even more. "And I understand that you would never do anything to hurt me, and I promise I will keep your secret, but...I can't be with you, Stefan. I'm sorry. I...I just can't."

I ran inside and slammed the door, my back sliding along the wood until I was in a sitting position. I kept telling myself it was a good choice, a _safe _choice. If I remained with Stefan, the people I loved and probably myself were going to get hurt. I couldn't face the consequences of having Wren, Carter, and Aaron around the supernatural. Even if one of them was a warlock. They would be bound to get killed.

But at the same time, my heart broke into pieces, and the tears came in no time. My sobs filled the house, and in that moment, I didn't care if anyone heard me.

I made the right choice, but why did it hurt like hell?


End file.
